Flack & Angell 12 French & Irish
by Runner043
Summary: Flack takes Angell to meet his parents for the first time, but Sam is there, too, with a few sibling rivalry plans of her own. Of course a bank robbery interupts their plans. Find out what Angell does when she runs out of bullets.
1. Chapter 1

"French & Irish" follows my #11 story "The Mask" and picks up at the end of "Communication Breakdown" and Angell's line "Stop by my place later, and I'll show you the true meaning of international relations."

In "French & Irish" Flack takes Angell to meet his family, as they have been discussing for several of my stories now.

Flack is Irish, and for my story Angell is half French & half Irish (according to Emmanuelle Vaugier's website she is French Canadian).

"That took a while." Angell said to Flack as she opened the door.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. Danny got a text from Lindsay while I was there." Flack said, stepping into Angell's apartment.

"Everything okay?" She asks, watching him hang up his coat.

"It's a girl." He replies.

"Wait,... she had the baby already?" Angell asks in surprise.

"Nope. Just an ultrasound." Flack clarifies.

"Oh, good." Angell said, with a sigh of relief. "An early baby is one thing, but an early baby in Montana with Danny not there is another."

"True." Flack agreed, then holds up a sack. "Figured I should bring the Irish." Referring to Irish Coffee.

"And I took care of the French part of our 'International Relations' evening." She responded, leading him the few steps to her kitchen.

"French crepes?" He confirms, setting the sack down before wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Salmon crepes for dinner, fruit crepes for dessert." She said, lacing her fingers behind his neck.

"Sounds good." He said, pulling her even closer.

"There's a great little French restaurant nearby." She said, before Flack silenced her with a kiss.

"The French are great at lots of things." Flack comments, as they part for air.

The next day Flack picks up Angell at the gym, then they headed straight to his parents house for Sunday dinner...

"You okay, Jess? You're awfully quiet over there." Flack asks, taking a quick glance at her in the passenger seat.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She says with a slight nod.

"They will adore you, Jess." He assures her after assuming she is nervous. "Just like I do." He adds, picking up her hand which is laced with his and kisses the back of it. This earns him a smile.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it, but they don't even know me, Don." She says.

"Not yet. But they do know about you." He replies.

She gives him a nervous look. "What did you tell them?"

"The basics. That you're beautiful. That you're half Irish. That you're a detective. That you're beautiful. That you're from a cop family. That you're into sports. That you're beautiful. That you have four brothers." He pauses to glance at her. "Oh, and I might have also mentioned that you're beautiful."

The rest of the drive to Queens was pleasant & relaxed, and filled with as many non work related topics as they could find to discuss.

FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA

"This is it." Flack announces as they pull into the driveway at the two story white house with a small front porch and surrounded by a picket fence. There was something charming about Flack's childhood home that reminded Angell of a Normal Rockwell painting, and she smiled at the thought of him growning up there.

Angell took the plant she'd brough out of the back seat. Her aunt had taught her it was rude to show up empty handed when invited to someone's home like this, and since she didn't cook... well, hence the plant. She'd asked Sam what kind of flowers her mother liked and she'd said lilies were her mother's favorites.

"Hey, mom! We're here!" Flack shouted from the front entry way. No response, "I'm gonna check upstairs." he says, before taking the steps two at a time.

"Mom! You up here?" Angell can hear Flack calling out upstairs.

"That boy obviously hasn't learned patience yet." Ruth Flack states as she approaches from the oposite direction with a dish towel in one hand. "Hi, I'm Ruth Flack. You must be Jessica."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Flack. And yes, I'm Jessica Angell." Angell says, introducing herself and shaking the woman's hand.

Ruth Flack was near the same height as Angell (5'7" according to Emmanuelle Vaugier's website) with dark hair mixed with some grey, that reached just past her shoulders. She was a lovely woman, who had obviously taken good care of herself and still looked good in the fashionable jeans she was wearing. She had intense green eyes, which suprised Angell for some reason, as everyone she'd ever met with green eyes also had fair colored hair.

"Don, how could you just leave our guest stand here while you're off yelling throughout the house?" Mrs. Flack scolds as her son comes back down the stairs.

"Hey, ma." He says, ignoring the scolding and giving her a hug. "I see you made the introductions without me."

Meanwhile...

"Is the light still on, Samantha?" Donald Flack, Sr. asks his daughter, his head still partly under her car's hood.

"Yes, Dad, it's still on." She calls back from the driver's seat.

"Let me try..." He begins as the door from the house into the garage opens. "Hey, Don." He calls out, seeing his son has arrived with his girlfriend.

"Hi, Dad." Flack replies to his father as he and Angell approach the car. "Dad, this is Jessica Angell. Jess, this is my father Donald Flack, Sr."

Angell could tell immediately what Flack would look like in years to come, as he was an image of his father. The height, the eyes, the dark hair, even the facial expressions. They were all the same.

"Detective Angell, it's nice to meet you." Mr. Flack greets, trying to wipe grease off his hands to shake hers. "Um,..."

"It's okay, Mr. Flack. It's nice to meet you, too." Angell replies before the car's horn suddenly sounds, causing Mr. Flack to curse slightly under his breath.

"Oops. Sorry." Sam mumbles as she exits her car.

Flack gives her a smirk, knowing she 'accidently' hit the car's horn to regain their father's attention.

"What?" She mumbles back at her older brother, "It was an accident."

"Sam's 'check engine' light keeps coming on, so I'm trying to figure out why." Mr. Flack states, "Didn't figure on gettin all greasy doing it, though." He adds, still trying to wipe his hands.

"You pump your own gas, Sam?" Angell asks, slowly meandering to the back of the car.

"I do now." Sam says, obviously unhappy about it. "The guy at the gas station used to do it for me, but the new owners won't let him anymore." She explains with an added eye roll.

Angell casually flips the gas cap cover open and they hear the unmistakable clicking sound of the gas cap tightening, followed by a deep sigh from Mr. Flack. "Sam,..."

"I'm checking, I'm checking." She says before she can be told. "It's off!" She exclaimed, her head popping back out of the car.

"That's good work, Detective." Flack says to Angell with a smirk.

"You shouldn't be too surprised." Mr. Flack says to his son, then turns back to Angell, "Don tells me you grew up with four brothers. Oh, uh, not to imply that women can't know their way around a car, too, of course. Which obviously you do."

"Four? Sheesh,... and I thought having two was bad." Sam says, hoping to regain some attention.

"Should I just serve dinner out here in the garage?" Mrs. Flack asks from the doorway.

"We're coming, Ruth, we're coming." Mr. Flack replies and they all head back inside.

At the dinner table...

"My mom makes the best Irish stew, Jess." Flack says to Angell.

"Something else we have in common. I grew up with Irish stew, too." She replies before taking a bite of cornbread.

"Which of your parents are Irish, Jessica?" Mrs. Flack asks.

"My father is." She replies.

"What about your mother?" Sam asks from across the table.

Flack shoots his sister a look. He knows that Sam is aware that Angell's mother is deceased.

"Achoo!" Comes a sudden sneeze and everyone turns Mr. Flack's direction.

"Donald, your eyes are all red." Mrs. Flack observes, as he excuses himself from the table to go sneeze again somewhere else. "Sorry about that." He says, returning to the table and about to take his seat, "Ruth, would you please take your lillies back outside."

"Oh my gosh. Are you allergic, Mr. Flack?" Angell asks.

He just nods, trying to stiffle another sneeze. "She doesn't usually bring them in the house." He finally manages to say.

"I'm afraid that was my fault." Angell informs him.

"Nonsense, Jessica. I just should have put them further from the table." Ruth says, retaking her seat after removing the offending plant. "Your aunt obviously taught you very well and it was very thoughtful of you."

Angell noticed Mrs. Flack's mention of her aunt. Obviously Flack had filled them in on the basics about her family, something she was sure Sam already knew.

After dinner Flack's parents, along with plenty of help from his sister, provided plenty of those embarrassing childhood stories for Angell to hear, which Flack endured for her benefit. Mr. Flack enjoyed showing off the family crest brought over from Ireland by his father, and Mrs. Flack couldn't resist dragging out several photos of Don when he was little.

"Looks like that rain that started during dinner hasn't let up." Sam observed, secretly hoping her brother and his girlfriend would leave early to beat the approaching storm.

"Well, maybe it will let up after dessert." Mrs. Flack says before leaving the room. "Samantha brought Blueberry Shamrocks." She continues as she returns, carrying a tray. "Jessica,"

"Oh, no thanks." Angell replies.

"Um, mom, it's Jess' turn to be allergic." Flack informs his mother.

"Oh, dear. I'm sorry, Jessica." She appologizes. "I can get you soemthing else if you'd like." She offers.

"It's okay. I'm too full from dinner anyway." Angell lies, not wanting to hurt her feelings. She then turns to Mr. Flack to try and lighten the mood again, "But I would like to hear the rest of that story about how Don got a bullet stuck up his nose when he was seven."

"Oh, geez. Not that one." Flack mumbles to himself as everyone laughs.

Another hour later the skies have turned black, more from the heavy rain & storm clouds than lack of late day sun. "It doesn't look too good out there, son." Mr. Flack says.

"Thought this storm was suposed to blow north of here." Flack comments to his father.

"It's springtime, Don. Anything goes in the spring." Mr. Flack says, letting the window sheers fall back to their position. "You two are welcome to stay the night here." He offers.

"Oh, yes!" Mrs. Flack agrees. "We've got plenty of room."

FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA

That's the end of chapter one.  
Find out which apple didn't fall far from which tree in chapter two. 


	2. Chapter 2

I'm used to posting my stories once they are totally finished, as I sometimes ad/remove/relocate entire sections before I'm done.  
I've never posted chapters as I write them before, but I'm giving it a try.

Thanks for the reads and reviews. They are much appreciated.

Recieved questions regarding Sam, so I'll just clarify; yes she has met Angell previously and they got along just fine. But Sam is still dealing with feeling like the black sheep in her family, so there is jealousy when perfect big brother arrives with the girlfriend he has bragged to his parents about. She was enjoying the time & attention from her father, whom she still has a strained relationship with, when Don & Jess arrived. Of course Jess fixing her car almost immediately ended that extra undivided attention she was getting, adding to the jealousy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "French & Irish" chapter 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You ever gonna answer that?" Sam asks Angell as her phone almost quietly vibrates again.

"Oh, I'll check it later." Angell replies, not wanting to be rude.

"That's the fourth time, Jessica. We don't mind, really. Besides, it could be important." Mrs. Flack replies, understanding that their guest is just trying to be polite.

Angell checks the caller ID on her cell phone and smiles, "Bonjour, mon pere." She says, answering her phone before strolling out of the living room.

"She speaks French?" Mr. Flack asks his son in surprise, who nods an afirmative. "I thought her father was Irish."

"He is. Her mother was French Canadian." Flack informs his father. "Her father wanted to impress her so she would go out with him, so he learned French."

"That's so sweet." Mrs. Flack chimes in. "Maybe you can teacher her some Irish and she can teach you some French."

"I'll be there's lots of French things Jessica can teach Donny." Sam says, sure that the implication is obvious to her brother.

"We're already dating, Sam." Flack quips back, knowing exactly what she was referring to.

"Well, at least you found a girl with a brain in her head this time." Sam teases again with a smirk as she notices Angell had ended her call and now stood at the edge of the living room.

"Sam." Flack mumbles at his sister through gritted teeth.

Mrs. Flack rises from her chair to head for the kitchen, pausing by Angell and quietly saying, "One of these days they'll both grow up and I won't have to put up with this sibling ravalry anymore." Her words causing Angell to laugh.

"Everything okay, Jess?" Flack asks her as she retakes her seat.

"Yeah. My dad wanted me to know that I'm an aunt. Jared and Madeleine had a baby boy this afternoon." Angell announces with a smile. "They named him Dominique Matthieu."

"Sounds very French." Flack says.

FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA

Don and his father sat on the back porch relaxing with Irish coffees. It was sort of their hang-out place when he'd come to visit. Weather permitting of course, and dispite the heavy rain the temperature was quite warm.

The ladies were still pouring over photo albums in the living room. Flack liked the idea of his mother spending time with Jess and getting to know her better. He just hoped his sister was behaving.

"Hey, Donny?" Sam abruptly interupts as she comes out onto the back porch, "Mom wants me to find out if you and Jessica are sleeping together."

"What the...?" Flack starts to say in shock and aggitation as their father attempts to stifle a laugh.

"Sa-man-tha!" Mrs. Flack scolds as she bargers out the back door, hands on her hips, "That is not what I told you to ask!" She says as Sam just rolls her eyes. "Oh good grief." She huffs, turning to her son, "What I told your sister to ask is, if I should prepare the guest room for Jessica."

"Exactly, mom. In the guest room or with Donny in his room. That's what I asked." Sam defends before going back into the house.

"Good grief." Flack says, slowly shaking his head which is down in his hands. He slowly looks up at his mother and pause before speaking, "Jessica will be in the guest room, mom." His mother gives a slight nod before heading back into the house. Even if he was sleeping with Angell, which he hadn't, he definetly would not under his parents roof.

"That's quite a lady you've got, son." Mr. Flack says now that they were alone again, "Looks like the apple didn't fall far from the tree."

"How's that, dad?"

"Tall and slim. Soft pretty features." Mr. Flack says, looking not at his son but out over the garden. Flack smiles, thinking how that described Angell. "Brunette curls hanging down her back." Mr. Flack continues, and Flack arches a brow. "Looks damd good in a pair of boots, too."

"Uh,... dad?" Flack says, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"Yep, son,... I'll never forget the day I laid eyes on your mother."

Flack relaxes at realizing who his father is referring to, feeling silly for even thinking that he would refer to Angell in such a manner, then gives his father a sideways glance.

"I may've gotten old son, but I'm not dead yet." Mr. Flack says, finally turning to his son. "I ever tell you about meeting your mother?"

"Yeah, how she was a dispatch operator at your precinct." Flack says.

"True, but as an NYPD employee she was also required to carry a side arm. The first time I saw her was at the firing range. Her long brunette hair braided down her back, her uniform pants tucked into her boots,... and loading a 9mil."

"Sounds like love at first sight." Flack comments.

"Like I said, ya didn't fall far from this tree." Mr. Flack says with a slight smile, then rises from his chair with his empty cup. "See ya in the morning."

"Good night, dad." Flack says, watching his father go into the house. With the kitchen light still on, he could see him approach his mother from behind and wrap an arm around her waist. "Nope. Not dead yet." Flack mumbles to himself, turning back around to face the garden again. If he thought about it, Angell really was a lot like his mother. That was a thought that made him happy as his parents had been married for thirty-seven years.

Angell approached quietly and took the recently vacated seat, "So, whats got you smiling?"

Flack takes her hand closest to his and laces their fingers together, and simply says, "Vous."

FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA

Bonjour, mon pere (translation: Hello, my father)  
Vous (translation: you)

coming in the next chapter...  
Meet 'Eight' & find out what family outing Sam will want no part of. 


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the R&R. I'm kinda liking this posting chapters as I write them thing, as I get more feedback that way. I debated about the ending of ch.2, if Flack should say "you" in Irish or French. Irish seemed a bit too predictable, besides I thought him answering her in French tied in with the part about her father learning French to impress her mother, hence my decision.

French & Irish, chapter 3...

"Where are you off to so early this morning?" Mrs. Flack asks her husband, her hands wrapping around him from behind as he tries to concentrate on pouring a cup of coffee.

"Gotta go pick up Eight." He answers, setting the cup down to turn in her arms and face her.

She rests her head on the front of his chest as he pulls her closer. No words were said. Some times, after thirty-seven years of marriage, words just aren't necessary to say some things.

Upstairs...

Flack woke up earlier than he expected. After not getting a lot of sleep last night on the extra-long twin bed in his former bedroom, he just expected to wake up later. Wanted to, actually. Preferably to the smell of sausage and pancakes. His mom always made sausage and pancakes when he was there for breakfast. Realizing he was not going to go back to sleep, he tried to stretch and further awaken himself, but his arm hit the wall. He'd barely fit on the bed as a teenager. He definetly didn't fit on it now and wished for the queen size bed in the guest room where he usually slept when visiting his parents overnight. But that's where Angell is... 'Or isn't' Flack thought to himself, noticing first the long brown hair on the pillow of the other bed in the room. Flack looked out the door and into the guestroom across the hall, where the bed had obviously not been slept in. 'Why is she in this bed?' He asked himself. Well, not actually in it, but on it.

Meanwhile, downstairs...  
"You won't be gone long, will you?" Mrs. Flack asked her husband as he grabbed for his keys.

"No, I should be back before you're finished making breakfast." He answered, giving her a kiss. "Just gonna pick up Eight and come right ba..."

"What was that?" Mrs. Flack asked, putting down the pan. But Mr. Flack didn't answer as he was half way up the stairs and she quickly followed.

Back upstairs...  
"Ouch." Flack cried out, laying on the floor with his arm pinned behind him and Angell's knee digging into his shoulder blade.

"Geez, Don! You scared the crap outta me." Angell said, as she got up.

"I scared you?" Flack replied, slowly getting up. "You're the one who flipped me over and slammed me onto the floor in two seconds flat." He added, rubbing his shoulder.

"Uhmmm," Came a throat clearing sound from the doorway. Flack and Angell looked over to see both his parents and sister standing there, obviously wondering what was going on.

"Oh, 'morning." Flack said sheepishly, now rubbing the back of his neck.

"Most people just set an alarm, Donny." Sam said to her brother with a smirk. "Or did Jessica mistake your head for a snooze button?"

Flack shot Sam back a hairlipped slowl. He'd recently invisioned waking up in the same rooom with Angell, but it didn't involve pain or an anudience, and it definetly didn't involve separate beds.

"Well, as long as everyone's okay, I've got sausage to cook." Mrs. Flack said and took her leave to head back to the kitchen.

"You're lucky she doesn't keep a gun under her bed, son." Mr. Flack said, trying to containg a laugh.

"Actually, I do." Angell said, "Twelve gauge."

"So I should be glad this is only a bump on my head, instead of a hole in my head?" Flack smirked.

"Hey, you're the one sneakin' up on me." Came a quick comeback, one hand on her hip.

"I was just putting a blanket over you." Flack explained, noticing she shot up a brow, "You were all curled up, I thought you were cold." He added. "Why are you sleeping on the bed instead of in it, anyway?"

Anell gestured to the sweats she was wearing, "Wasn't planning on staying the night. These were in my gym bag. You uh, want me to see if I've got an extra pair?" Flack looked at her in confusion for a moment before blushing at realizing he was still wearing just his boxers and a wifebeater. "I get the shower first." She said, leaving to get her bag from the guest room and noticing their audience was gone.

Later...  
"If you and Don wanted to be in the same room, it would have been okay..." Mrs. Flack said to Anell as she entered the kitchen in search of the coffee she could smell.

"Uh, no,..." Angell said, cutting her off and thinking it was kinda odd that she would offer them a room together under her roof, even if they wre both adults. "I just saw Don in there sleeping. He looked kinda funny in that bed..."

"He didn't fit in that thing very well even when he was a kid." Mrs. Flack smiled at the memory. "But the room just wasn't big enough for bigger beds for the boys."

"I was picturing he and Patrick in there, growing up in that room together." Angell said, continuing her thought, "I always did have a thing for memorobelia and keepsakes so I just liked the idea of taking the other bed in his room. You haven't changed much in there since the boys grew up, have you?"

Mrs. Flack smiled again as she handed Angell a coffee cup. "No. I guess I haven't. Thought about it a few times, but just can't quite bring myself to do it yet. Kinda silly, I know."

"I don't think so." Angell said, filling her cup and hearing the sound of keys in the door.

"We're back." Mr. Flack annonced as he entered with a german shepard on a leash. The dog wanted of course to go immediately to Angell to investigate someone new in the house. "Jessica, this is Eight."

Angell held out a hand to let the dog sniff her, but Eight was only interested in her right boot at the moment. "Eight?" She asked about the unusual name.

"He came close to making the K-9 Unit, but din't quite make it." Mrs. Flack said, as she flipped pancakes.

"He was good, there were just too many other dogs that were better." Mr. Flack further explained, removing Eight's leash. "What'cha packin?"

"Tweny-two." Angell replied, knowing a police dog would smell the gun in her ankle holster. It was a small gun she usually carried, she would get her service weapon when her shift started later.

"Smells good, mom." Flack said, entering the kitchen.

"Thank you." She said, her voice sweet and in sharp contranst to her action of threatening to swipe his hand with the spatula as he attempted to reached for a sausage, "Go set the table. Breakfast is almost ready."

At the table...  
"Thought you might like to see this, Jessica." Mr. Flack said, passing the eggs one direction and a gun the other. "My uncle gave it to me years ago."

"Very nice." She said, examining the grip, then flipping it open. "You've kept this very clean." She observed, giving it a spin.

"Guns at the table, dad?" Sam glared, then offered the plate of blueberry pancakes to Angell.

Angell just shook her head and continued inspecting the gun as Flack piled eggs on her plate.

"Uh, Don,... you expect me to eat all those?" She asked him.

"Donald,... where's the plate I told you to get from the oven?" Mrs. Flack asked her husband.

"Plate?"

"Yes, Donald. The one with the plain pancakes I made for Jessica."

Mr. Flack hadn't even realized the pancakes he was eating were blueberry, which of course they had leanred Jessica was allergic go.

"I'll get it." Flack said, rising from his seat, before his father could answer.

After breakfast...  
Angell and Mr. Flack continued in their discussion of guns, "You and Don should come with us." He offerned.

"Well, I don't have to be on shift till noon." Angell replied, before heading for the kitchen in search of Flack.

"You might as well throw them away, mom." Flack said to his mother, just as Angell entered the kitchen.

"I know, it's just so hard to do." Mrs. Flack replied. "I just can't believe they got ruined like this."

"'Sup?" Flack asked Angell as she approached.

"Your dad wants to know if we'd like to go over with he and your mom to the firing range before we leave." She explained.

"You got time?" He asked.

"Don't have to be on shift till noon. He says it's not far from here."

"It's not. Sure, that sounds fine with me, if you want to."

"Yeah. What's with the jerseys?"

"I wore that one for hockey, and that one for basketball." Flack explained, pointing to each of them.

"We had a critter get into the attic, nibbled at some storage boxes, allowling moths to get into this one and feast on Don's old high school jerseys." Mrs. Flack said, obviously very upset.

"It's okay, mom. They were just stuffed in a box in the attic anyway." Flack said, very disappointed but trying not to let it show for his mother's sake.

"I'm off!" Sam announced, entering the kitchen.

"You're not going with us to the firing range?" Flack asked.

The 'yeah, right' expression on Sam's face was enough to answer the question. "I'll see ya later." Sam hated guns, they scared her and there was no way she was going to the firing range.

Flack followed his sister out of the kitchen before his mother put the ruined jerseys in the garbage. It was bad enough they had to be thrown out, but she didn't want him to see her do it.

At the firing range...  
Flack and his father stood side by side in the quiet soundproofed viewing room, just off the main firing area. They were currently watching Angell unload her clip into a target while Mrs. Flack reloaded her gun.

"She's got a good aim." Mr. Flack said, refering to Angell, who had a nice cluster in the center of her target.

"You were right in what you said last night. She really does remind me a lot of mom, now that you've pointed it out." Flack said back to his father and noticing that Angell had french braided her hair.

"Like I said, son. The apple didn't fall far from this tree."

Back at the house...  
Angell went inside and upstairs to fetch her gym bag. Before exiting, she paused by the front door to pet Eight and looked into the kitchen.

Flack and his father went inside to put the guns away, while Mrs. Flack says goodbye to Angell on the front porch. "It was so nice having you both here for a visit."

"Thanks for having me." Angell replied with a smile. "Don's right, you really do make the best Irish stew... Just don't tell my aunt Gail I said that, if you ever meet her."

"Not to worry, dear. But I do hope to meet her soon. Will she be helping with the plans?" Mrs. Flack asked.

"Plans?" Angell inqired.

"The wedding plans. I'd be most willing to help in any way you'd like. Patrick and his wife just did the Justice of the Peace thing. Well, they did have a 'we got married' party later, but it just wasn't the same as having a real wedding. He married his highschool sweetheart as soon as they gradutated college, you know." Mrs. Flack was on a roll, getting all excited at the thought of a wedding, and didn't notice Angell's jaw had dropped at what she was saying, "And then there's Sam, Lord only knows if that girl will ever keep her head on straight long enough to find a good man to marry."

"Mrs. Flack." Angell said, trying to stay as calm as possible, but the woman was still rambling on about wanting to help but promising to not be a nusance. "Mrs. Flack!"

"Really, Jessica, if I'm going to be your mother-in-law, you're going to have to start calling me Ruth." Mrs. Flack said in such a sweet way, but Angell just couldn't take it anymore.

"DON!"

The look on Mrs. Flack's face was priceless and her head turned into a pendolum, looking back and forth between Angell and her front door where her son would surely appear any second after the loud summons.

"Jess, what's going on?" Flack asked only a moment later as he came flying out the front door to see what was wrong.

"Okay,... um, alright." Angell began, but she was very flustered. "You're gonna have to deal with this one." She finally managed to say before picking up her bag and heading for the car, leaving the two of them on the front porch.

Angell sat in the car, her mind in hyper mode. Did his mother really just talk about Don & I getting married? She acted like it was set in stone? Like we've already got a date picked out. Is that what they all think? Is that why they were so nice to me during this visit? I wonder if she's thinking I'll be some sort of grandbaby making machine. Angell took several deep breaths, trying to calm down and slow her heart rate a bit. It started to work, untill she saw Flack heading for the car. Ohmygosh, I wonder if he said someting to them to give them that idea. I'm not ready for that. I love him, ohmygosh, did I really just admit that? Yeah, I did, and I do love him, but I'm still not ready for that.

Flack opened the door and got in the car. He laid his head back and took a deep breath, "I'm gonna kill Sam."

FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA

What did Sam say to her mother?  
What was Angell looking at in the kitchen before she left?

Coming up in chapter 4: F&A have a pit-stop to make on the way home, but it won't be as brief as they planned.  
Hint: It involves bullets & Sam. 


	4. Chapter 4

I've figured out that one advantage to posting my chapters as I write them, is that I can answer & clarify for reivewers as I go...

1) Flack went to sleep in his childhood bedroom, which has two extra-long twin beds in it (idea for small rooms housing tall kids); one was his, the other his younger brother Patrick's. Flack wakes up to find that Angell was in Patrick's bed, instead of across the hall in the guest room.

2) Since they hadn't come prepared to spend the night, Angell had to make do with what was in her gym bag; hence the sweats she was sleeping in, so she was warm and slept on the bed instead of in it.

3) Yes, I believe Don is the oldest son, because by tradition the title of 'Junior' always goes to the oldest son. In my previous stories I had Sam the youngest of the 3 kids, but after re-watching Dead Inside where she comments on how she & 'Donny' used to sneak out every other Friday night when they were in high school, well, it made more sense for the two of them to be closer in age, so I'm putting Sam in the middle between Don and youngest brother Patrick.

4) In case you hadn't noticed, Angell's family & friends all call her 'Jessica', Flack is the only one that calls her 'Jess'. And if you've read my story "Rest Your Wings" you already know why she hates being called 'Jessie'.

5) What was Angell looking at in the kitchen before she left?... you'll just have to wait till a future story to find out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
French & Irish, chapter 4...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flack opened the door and got in the car. He laid his head back and took a deep breath, "I'm gonna kill Sam."

"Sam?" Angell asked, a hint of anger obvious in her voice. "Why am I not surprised she has something to do with this?"

Flack adjusted himself in his seat, sitting more upright, then gave Angell the _'just a minute'_ signal as he started the car. He really needed a moment to compose his thoughts before speaking.

Angell tried to focus on the charming houses on the tree-lined street as they exited the neighborhood, but her mind just wouldn't let her. She just couldn't break her mind free from Mrs. Flack's words, and how somehow Sam was involved in this. But she knew Flack would speak when he was ready and she wouldn't rush him, no matter how much she wanted to.

"First of all, Jess, my mother has asked me to appologize for her." Flack began, now that they were on the main road, "She is very embarrassed right now."

"Why was she under the impression that a wedding is in the works?" Angell inquired, trying very hard to keep her tone of voice even.

Flack took a deep breath and shook his head, "Sometimes the idea of being an only child can be very apealing."

"Sam." Angell said, simply stating the obvious and wanting to focus on her roll in all of this.

"Yeah,... she uh, she all but told my mother that we're wanting to get married soon. Very soon." Flack informed her, "I'm sorry, Jess."

"First off, s'not your fault." Angell replied, sensing a change in his tone of voice. "Second, what do you mean by, _'all but told'_?"

"Lots of little ideas and things said." He began.

"But never came right out and said it." Angell concluded, knowing that way Sam could technically not be called on it.

"Mhmm." He confirmed. "Planted lots of ideas in mom's already _'eager to have me get married'_ mind. Like that she saw you out wedding dress shopping."

"Wedding dress shopping?" She saw him nod, "How about; in a bridal shop helping a friend pick out a dress because she was asked to be a brides maid in a mutual friend's wedding?"

"Then she told mom about seeing you in a jewelery store." He added.

"Just tagging along with the bride-to-be when she got her fiancee's ring sized." She explained. "What?" She asked, seeing the look on his face.

"Well, then she told mom something about seeing you in a baby store recently." He said.

"Well, I wasn't just gonna watch as Madeleine tried to waddle her way to her car balancing a boxed-up bassanette on her head." Angell said, rubbing her eyes. "Geez, your mother probably thinks we're planning a honeymoon baby, too. No wonder she thought it odd that we were to be in separate rooms last night."

"She say something to you?" Flack asked, giving a sideways glance as he tried to keep his eyes on the road.

"Just that if we had wanted to be in the same room last night..." She said, but didn't finish.

"Ah, geez." Flack mumbled with an eye roll.

"No wonder your mom's embarrassed." Angell said, trying to let the lighter side of things sink in.

"Truth is,... I'm embarrassed, too." Flack noticed she was about to speak, but needed to continue, "You know how much I care for you, Jess. I wanted your meeting my parents to be special, kind of a stepping stone for us, ya know. They adore you, Jess, just like I told you they would." He paused, playing with her fingers which were now laced with his. Part of him wanting to tell her that he was in love with her, but driving in a car was not how he wanted to do it. "Then Sam had to be there. Pain in the neck the whole time."

"Well, as much as I'd like to ring Sam's neck right now, I do have to admit one thing... I can kinda understand her being a pain the whole time." She saw him give a questioning look, "I mean, I don't know what your house is usually like, so I've nothing to base this on, but it sure seemed like your parents weren't paying much attention to her. Maybe that's the norm, I don't know."

"Well, it wasn't long ago that my father had washed his hands of her, with all the trouble she'd gotten into and all, so they're still working on rebuilding that relationship. You're thinkin' she was jealous 'cause we were there?" Flack asked, turning on the blinker.

"She could'a been. Not that that gave her the right to plant such ideas in your mother's head." Angell said as a they exited the freeway.

"True." Flack said, pulling into the gas station and killed the engine as they waited their turn for a pump. "You're being very understanding of all this, Jess." To which she just shrugged. "My parents have asked me if we'll come back for another Sunday dinner in two weeks. If they haven't scared you off, that is. But don't worry, Sam won't be there. My brother Patrick will, so you'll get to meet him, but he's nothing to worry about."

"Sounds nice." Angell said, leaning over to kiss him. "And no, this whole thing didn't scare me off. Your mother was actually attempting to come across as wanting to be helpful with all of the _assumed_ wedding plans. Had she been correct, it would have been a very thoughtful gesture."

"Well, don't worry. I've assured her that if and when there is ever a wedding to be planned, that we will them ourselves." Flack said with a noticable twinkle in his eye and initiating another kiss, which wasn't broke till the station attendant tapped on the window and gestured for them to pull the car forward.

Flack & Angell weren't really into public displays of affection like that, but they were in Queens still, where no one would know them. Besides, they were inside a car and it was doubtful the attendant even noticed what they were doing.

"I didn't know my bank had a branch here." Angell said, gesturing to the building across the street. "I'm gonna run in and take care of something while you fill up. Then I won't have to rush downtown on my lunch hour later."

"Okay. I'm gonna get a coffee for the road. You want anything?" Flack asked, gesturing to the mini-mart there at the gas station.

"No, I'm good. I'll be right back." Angell said, exiting the car.

FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA

Decide to go for a 5th chapter instead of extending this one to include Angell's shortage of bullets issue.


	5. Chapter 5

Yes, I know it's taken me a while to write this 5th chapter, but life just gets too busy to get to write as much as I want to some times.

And yes, I know chapter 4 was kinda short, but the conversation in the car developed a little more than I'd originally planned, besides, I was at a good stopping point that day.

This chapter has a lot of simultaneous things going on, with lots of back & forth scenarios. I tried to mark everything clearly to avoid any confusion.

BTW- Flack & Angell had stopped for gas before they left Queens, so you are going to get introduced to my characters from Queens; Lieutenant Jose Diaz - SWAT leader, Amber Layne - hostage negotiations, Lieutenant Steven Carr - Queens P.D., and Trey Wilson.

Thanks for the reviews... much appreciated! And a special 'thank you' to my BETA reader for this story TerriBerri23.

**French & Irish, chapter 5 **

Angell walked into the bank, filled out her transaction slip, then got in line just as Sam finished at the teller's counter and turned to leave. Both women froze for a moment, each looking at the other in surprise.

"Jessica." Sam finally said, slowly approaching and fidgeting with the clasp on her purse so she could put her deposit slip away.

"Sam." Angell greeted back simply, with a pleasant but neutral expression on her face.

Sam was feeling awkward, embarrassed for the way she'd behaved at her parents house earlier, and rightly so. She liked Jessica, she really did, and was happy for her brother to have found someone who makes him so happy. She knew it was childish of her to have behaved the way she did, but she didn't know if she should take the high road and bring it up or play dumb and act like it never happened. She knew she should do the former, but preferred the latter, after all, her sibling rivalry was between her and her brother, not her and Angell.

Angell was miffed, to put it mildly. She liked Sam and was glad she was getting her act together, but didn't like being drug into her little temper tantrums and sibling rivalry crap. She was contemplating weather or not to say anything or give Sam the opportunity to take the high road and come clean on her own.

"It was nice that Don got to bring you with him." Sam finally said, Angell offered a slight smile and nod in response. "So is meeting the parents as scarry as I've always heard?" Sam asked.

"A bit of nervousness is normal when doing anything for the first time. But your parents are very nice folks and I enjoyed meeting them." Angell replied, as another customer left the window and the line moved forward.

"Mom's been tryin' to get Don to Sunday dinner for a long time now. Guess he finally found a good reason to go." Sam said, side-stepping to stay next to Angell as she moved forward.

"Sounding like I'll be meeting Patrick next time." Angell said.

"Next time?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, we're coming back here in two weeks to have dinner with your parents again. I was told that Patrick would be there." Another customer leaves a window, the line moves again, Sam and Angell move with it.

"You'll like Patrick. He's a very quiet and shy guy. But you better bring something to do, 'cause I know those guys,... Dad, Don, and Patrick will be off doin' their own thing before ya know it." Sam said, explaining how it was with the guys in her family.

"That's okay, I'll just bring one of the bridal magazines with me. Your mother and I will be kept very busy." Angell said with a straight face. She had decided she just couldn't resist the opportunity, instead of calling Sam on her behavior she was going to play into it and give her a taste of her own medicine.

"Oh? Well,..." Sam was a bit lost for words, "bridal magazines will definetly keep mom busy." She finally spit out with a nervous laugh.

"Have to admit, Sam, I'm glad you told your mom about Don and I wanting to get married." Angell lied, "Well, of course it would have been nice if Don got to tell them himself, but, oh well. Anyway, I can't believe you saw me in the bridal shop. I was just there to help a friend pick out a brides maid dress for a wedding she's in, and then, well, I saw all those beautiful gowns..." Angell gave a dramatic sigh, "... I just couldn't resist trying one on." It was all she could do not to bust into laughter at the look on Sam's face. She didn't consider herself a revengeful person, but this was just too much fun and she wondered how long she could keep it up and actually wished the line would stop moving for a bit. She just had to be sure and tell Don about this little skit before he crossed paths with his sister.

"Yeah, I should'a let Donny tell the folks himself, I suppose." Sam said sheepishly and shuffled her feet a bit. _'Holy crap! They really are getting married!'_ She thought to herself. "Some of those dresses are really pretty."

"Ya know, Sam, it's just really starting to set in how big this wedding is going to be." Angell said, managing to maintain her role. "With everyone on Don's side and my huge family, plus half the NYPD is going to be there, this is really going to be one huge wedding. I'm definitely glad I'll have your mother's help."

"Well, she'll love that." Sam said, with an obviously fake smile. She had just gotten her father's attention back and now she'd be losing her mother's for sure if she helped with plans for a large wedding. _'Oh, geez. What have I started?'_ She thought to herself.

"Well, looks like I'm next." Angell said, since she had reached the front of the line.

The ladies said their good byes and Angell stepped to the window as Sam headed for the door.

**MEANWHILE...**  
Trey Wilson pulled the bank's door open as he led his crew of four men into the building. A lovely young brunette was approaching with her head down as she dug through her purse, probably for her keys.

"Oh. Excuse me." Sam said, bumping into the man as she looked up. "Wasn't watching where I was going."

"S'no problem, miss." He said back to her and let her pass as one of his men held the door open for her. But when he did, his jacket opened, and she saw the gun tucked into his belt.

The man realized what the lady was looking at and quickly grabbed her around the waist.

"Let go of me!" Sam yelled as the men all quickly put on their masks and pulled out their guns.

"Everyone on the floor!" Trey shouted, "I said everyone down on the floor right now!" He repeated as he centered himself in the room.

Angell used the pen in her hand to write 'NYPD' on the paper in front of her where the teller could see it, then gestured for her to getting down on the floor. The teller lowered herself behind the counter, tripping the silent alarm on her way down to the floor, and Angell hit the Speed-3 button on her phone on her way down to the floor.

**QUEENS P.D. DISPATCH...**  
"Attention all units, be advised, we have a silent alarm and possible 10-90 at the Queens branch of the NY Bank on 84th. Proceed Code 2. SWAT unit is en route." The dispatcher radioed out.

_A/N: according to Google, a '10-90' is a bank robbery and a 'Code 2' means lights w/out sirens._

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
Trey's men had dispersed, one to each corner of the room. Lowering the blinds at all the windows along the way. Then forced the security guard to lock the front door.

"Start stuffin' a bag, lady!" Trey barked to one of the tellers who was still standing. "Listen to me... I want all the men to stand up. Now!"

The men in the room, bank employees and customers alike, all slowly stood to their feet. Trey then nodded to Two, who took charge of the next step.

Trey had assigned each of his men a number, two through five, so they would not use names. Trey himself was One. Less chance of them being identified or making a mistake, he had thought.

"Move it!" Two said, to the men who had stood to their feet. He waved his gun, gesturing for them to all move to the corner where Three had opened the door that lead to the stairs. "Downstairs! Now!" He ordered.

Three held the door open silently, but intentionally made sure he pointed his gun at each man as they passed him.

With the men of the group now headed downstairs, One ordered all the women to the front of the room, away from the teller's windows.

**MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE...**  
Flack's phone rang, "Hey, Jess." He answered, but got no response. He looked across the street and noticed that the bank's blinds were being lowered at all their front windows. He did not hang up, but lowered the voice volume on his phone. "Lemme see your phone." Flack ordered the gas station attendant, pulling out his flat badge.

"9-1-1. What is your emergency?" The operator answered.

"This is Detective Flack, NYPD #8571. There's a possible 10-90 in progress at the NY Bank on 84th." Flack informed her.

"What is your 10-20, Detective Flack?" She inquired.

"I'm at a gas station, across the street. Be advised that there is an 10-7od in the bank, Detective Angell, NYPD #9521." Flack said, as he watched someone try to enter the bank unsuccessfully before leaving. "Be advised, I just witnessed someone attempt to enter the bank, but the door appears to be locked."

"Thank you, Detective. I can confirm for you that there was a silent 62 and we already have units and SWAT enroute, Code 2. I will our advise Lincoln of your 10-20." The operator said.

"10-4." Flack confirmed before hanging up. He could see two unmarked police cars down the block.

_A/N: again, according to Google, a '10-20' is the officer's location, a '10-7od' is an officer off duty (which Angell was, because her on-call shift didn't start till noon), a '62' is an alarm, a precinct's 'Lincoln' is their lieutenant on duty, and '10-4' is a confirmation of information._

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
With her phone still flipped open and the screen-half tucked into her back pocket, Angell sat on the floor in the front of the room with all the other women as instructed, however, she intentionally chose a spot directly in front of the window where a waste basket had prevented one of the blinds from going all the way down. She was hoping to obstruct the robbers' view of the opening in the blind, so they wouldn't close it, as well as having other women sitting in front of her to conceal what she was doing. With her back to the window, she put one hand behind her and began signaling codes, knowing that SWAT and local law enforcement would be looking for a way to see inside the bank.

**MEANWHILE OUTSIDE...**  
"Detective Flack?" Lieutenant Carr asked, spotting Flack's flat badge flapped over his belt and seeing him nod, although the frustrated look on his face would have given him away, "I'm Lieutenant Steven Carr, Queens PD." He added, extending his hand.

"Donald Flack, Jr., Manhattan's 12th Precinct." Flack said to introduce himself properly while avoiding any confusion about his name since his dad knew many in the Queens Police Department, and shaking his hand.

"I'm told one of yours is in the bank." Carr said as SWAT team leader Lieutenant Jose Diaz approached to listen in.

"That's right. My partern Detecive Angell is in there." Flack informed them, trying to sound professional. Yet inside he was forcing control. The woman he was in love with was a hostage in a bank robbery instead of sitting next to him in the car, talking on their way home. He should be holding her hand right now, not binoculars.

"Detective Jessica Angell?" Diaz asked.

Flack nodded, wondering if perhaps Diaz knew Jess' father since she had never worked in Queens before, "Yeah. You know her?"

"I'm SWAT. That means I know of her." Diaz answered, as if it should be assumed. "She's got a good reputation and I met her at one of those two-day training events a while back, too. She's good."

"That she is." Flack confirmed, adding an unnecessary nod, as several of Diaz's men approached him. "I've got an inside line." He added, holding up his cell phone, "Angell called me, but didn't answer. Which was odd, then I saw that the blinds at the bank's windows were all being lowered. I've kept the line open and turned down the speaking volume. As long as Angell's phone doesn't get hung up we can hear inside the bank, somewhat anyway, but they can't hear us."

"I've got something, sir." Flack, Carr, and Diaz all turned to Bradley, one of the SWAT men who was lying on the ground and looking through binoculars. "There's a gap in one of the blinds. Looks like the hostages are all sitting on the floor in front of the windows."

Binoculars were passed out and they all spotted the same thing. "They're all women." Carr observed, "Wonder what they did with the men?"

"One of 'em's movin' her hands." Diaz noticed, looking through his binoculars.

"That's Angell." Flack stated proudly, crouched down on one knee and looking thru his binoculars. "She's signaling us."

"She's confirming a 10-90, 5 perps, 3... up?, 2... down? I think." Diaz said as he tried to decipher Angell's hand signals.

"Maybe 2 of 'em took the men downstairs? 'Cause I still don't see any men sitting on the floor." Carr wondered. "Probably figures no hostages will give 'em any trouble that way."

"If they'd figured out Angell was a cop, she'd be downstairs with the men." Flack said, still looking through the binoculars, but Angell was just repeating the same codes over and over.

"She armed?" Carr asked.

"Just an ankle holster, 'cause her on-call shift doesn't start till noon." Flack answered.

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
Angell kept repeating the hand signals. There was only so much information she could transmit that way and she didn't know how long it would take someone outside to notice, so she just kept it up. Sitting on the floor in a bank during a robbery was not how she wanted to spend her morning. She was supposed to be in a car, heading for Manhattan, holding hands with Flack. Oh geez, Flack, how is he going to respond when he finds out his sister is in here, too.

Four walked over to Trey, "She saw me, One. The young brunette we passed on the way in." He gestured to Sam, sitting closest to them, "She saw me before my mask was on. What're we gonna do with her?" He asked.

"She saw all of us, Four. Don't worry. She'll be goin' for a little ride later." Trey answered, knowing he had no intention of letting her live. Their quick little in-n-out plan was already changing. "Now get back to your post." He ordered.

Four nodded and went back to his assigned corner. Trey walked behind the teller's counter to collect the full money bag from the teller he had previously instructed. "Now fill another one." He ordered her, standing back from the counter to keep an eye on her. The teller moved to the next window to collect more money, and Trey noticed the transaction slip on the counter. He picked it up, "NYPD." he read aloud. "Keep fillin' 'em." He instructed the teller, then made his way over to Five. "We got ourselves a cop in here somewhere."

"A cop?" Five asked quietly, trying not to show Trey he was nervous about the sudden revelation.

"Mhmm. Keep an eye on things up here while I head downstairs." Trey instructed.

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
"Hostage negotiator is here, sir." One of the SWAT members said to Diaz as Agent Layne approached. "Agent Amber Layne, this is our SWAT leader Lieutenant Jose Diaz." He said by way of introduction and gesturing to Diaz.

"Agent Layne." Diaz greeted, shaking her hand. "This is Lieutenant Carr, and this is Detective Flack. Sorry to be needing your services."

"Sorry to hear they're needed, Lieutenant. What do we got?" Layne asked, the question directed to all three.

"Silent alarm, 5 perps, we suspect 2 of them are downstairs with the male hostages. The other 3 remain upstairs with at least 6 female hostages that are somewhat visible and sitting on the floor, and it doesn't appear the perps are aware that one of them is an NYPD Detective who has given us an open line to her phone." Carr answered.

"Any contact yet?" Layne asked.

All three shook their heads, "Nothing yet." Diaz answered.

**INSIDE THE BANK, DOWNSTAIRS...**  
"One of 'em's a cop." Trey said to Two and Three after he got downstairs. "And we're gonna find out which one. Bring me the guard." He ordered.

**UPSTAIRS...**  
"Looks like we've got a cop amongst us, ladies." Five said, standing before the women sat on the floor. "And we're going to find out which one of you it is."

"Get up." Four ordered, "I said get up!" He repeated to Sam. But Sam was so scared she couldn't move. Four grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet.

Sam's eyes were wide with fear, and locked on Angell, who returned her gaze, but only for a moment. She hoped to convey to Sam that she needed to keep quiet and not give her away. Also hoping she wouldn't misunderstand,... Angell looked away.

Even from the corner of her eye, Angell could see Sam still shaking. Would she give her away or would she be able to maintain her composure? Angell would just have to wait and see.

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
"Something's happening, sir." Bradley said. It was directed to Diaz, but they all grabbed their binoculars again and directed them to the gap in the window blinds. Their only current view inside the building.

"One of them has grabbed a woman, but I can't see any more from here." Carr said, "Flack, you wanna move over behind those cars and see if you can spot anything with a better angle."

"Sure." Flack answered, although it wasn't really a question. So far it didn't appear the perps knew they were outside, but they didn't want to give anything away, just in case. So Flack carefully made his way across the parking lot to get a different vantage point and again directed his binocular-aided view to the gap in the blinds. "Shit!"

"See anything?" Layne inquired as Flack hurried back over, retaking his place behind the van.

"More than I wanted to." Flack answered, looking a little pale. "The woman they stood up,... is my sister."

"You sure about that?" Flack heard, causing him to spin around.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" Flack asked the man before him.

"I've got lots of friends on the force here, son. Got a call that you were here." Mr. Flack answered. "Now, what was that about Sam?"

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
Sam shook uncontrollably in Four's strong grip and Angell knew she had to do something. Her time to stay quiet was running out. She had to keep Sam safe, no matter what. If his sister were to get hurt or killed, well, she just hated to think what that would do to the man she loved, and she damn well was going to do everything she could to keep him from finding out.

Five slowly and almost casually strolled between the women sitting on the floor, acting like a tough guy. He made eye contact with each of them as he passed and made sure they saw the gun in his hand. It was as if they expected her, the cop in the room, to just stand up and say 'here I am.' Angell avoided eye contact with them both, it was her way of maintaining control as long as she could. If things were going to go down this way, it would be her way, at least as much as possible.

Five grabbed the blond woman's hair, jerking her head up, "Is it you? You the cop?" He yelled into her face as he leaned down over her. The woman could only whimper a barely audible 'no' before he moved nearer to Angell.

"And what about you?" Five asked, but Angell kept her head down, pretending to be too scared to look up at him. "I said,... what about you? You a cop?" He yelled again, bending down, intending to force her to look up at him.

Angell jerked up suddenly, grabbing Five around the neck and pulling him back down on top of her. The gun from her ankle holster now drawn and pointed at Four, who still held Sam in his grip. "Let her go." She ordered as Five gasped for air, but the tight grip she had 'round his neck prevented that. Angell knew that if she could just hold her grip for another ten seconds, he would pass out, but for now, he was the human shield she needed. The other women on the floor all scooted away from them.

Four shook his head, pressing the gun harder agains Sam's temple, "No way, cop. Let him go or I'll shoot the lady here." He said, referring to Sam, who's eyes were even wider with fear and panic.

Angell felt Five's strength subside as he succumbed to unconsciousness from her grip around his throat. She released her hold on him and he slid off her, then she slowly stood up, not losing her aim on Four, "I said, let her go."

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
"Crap! She's been made." Bradley said loud enough for them all to hear. He had maintained a constant vigil via his binoculars as the others confirred, took calls, and finalized their plan.

"You sure?" Diaz asked, grabbing his binoculars.

"Either that, or she just gave me the bird, sir." Bradley replied.

"She's been made." Flack Jr. and Sr. both deadpanned.

"I'll initiate contact." Agent Layne said, rushing away to do so.

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
Angell knew Five wouldn't stay out for long and she had to get Sam away from Four before she had to explain something to Flack she didn't want to.

"Drop the gun, cop!" Four ordered.

"Not gonna happen." Angell replied, holding her aim steady.

The phone rang.

"What the..." Four jerked when the sound startled him, turning slightly. That was enough. Angell squeezed the trigger. Four fell to the floor with a bullet to his head, taking the screaming Sam down with him.

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
"We have shots fired." was heard all over the SWAT teams radios.

Flack checked his gun again, making sure the securing strap was lose and the safety was off. Then checked and tightened his kevlar, again. Then he checked his ear-piece, again. He couldn't lost either one of them and was getting antsy to get inside the building. He looked up, locking eyes with those identical to his own. His father was near, but out of the way. He didn't move or say a word, just stood there with his arms folded across his chest, conveying the confidence he had in his son with only a slight nod. Flack nodded back, no words were necessary.

"All teams are in position, sir. Snipers are on the roof." Diaz was informed.

"No one is answering." Agent Layne said, as she listened to the phone continue to ring. "Do we have the bank's camera feed up yet?"

"Still working on it." She was informed by Diaz.

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
"Out! Out! Go, go, go!" Angell ordered to all the women on the floor. They complied and all ran for the door. When the security guard had been ordered to lock the door, he had made sure that it could still be opened from the inside, while preventing more innocent bank customers from walking into a bad situation.

Angell ran over to help Sam up, but she was screaming hysterically. "Sam, you gotta get out of here." she ordered, wanting her to leave with the other women. But Sam just wasn't in the frame of mind to comply at the moment.

Angell reached for Four's gun, hoping she wouldn't need more fire power, but just in case. Either way, it should be secured. But before she could get him rolled over and pry it from his hands the back door flew open and Two came in with his gun drawn. The shot had brought him back upstairs.

Seeing only the two women left, Four on the floor not moving, and Five attempting to get on his feet, Two was determined not to lose what control they still had left. He aimed for the women.

Angell grabbed Sam and pulled them both behind the center island where she herself had stood filling out her transaction slip earlier. Two's bullet hit the top edge of the island, missing both women.

Five was now on his feet again with his gun back in his hand and had joined Two, both had their guns drawn. There was nothing between the two men and the two women but the island.

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
They had all watched as the doors flew open and 5 women came running out. Sam was not among them.

Flack saw the look on his father's face. His shoulder's were back and his jaw squared. He would not falter. He would stand strong. Just like the cop he had always been. Even when shots had been heard. Even when his only daughter was not to be seen. Flack looked away. Lest he be less than his father. Less he dare think the unthinkable.

The women were quickly taken to safety, checked for injuries, then all they told the same story about the two brunette women still in the bank.

"Feed from the bank's cameras is up now, sir." The female officer said to Carr, gesturing to the monitor in the back of the SWAT van.

"They still won't answer the phone." Agent Layne said to Lieutenant Carr, who was still standing with Diaz and Flack. "Time for plan B."

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
Sam leaned her back against the island, her knees pulled tightly to her chest, her breathing as rapid as her rocking motion, "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God..." She kept repeating, trying to focus and calm herself, but it wasn't working.

"You're pinned down, cop." Five called out, smug as could be.

Angell answered with a bullet, which unfortunately missed it's target. Five and Two both replied back with bullets of their own. Angell knew the structural integrity of the island cabinet was not made for target practice and she & Sam could not stay behind it for long. She was sure the SWAT team would be outside, all set up by now, but she wanted to give them more to work with, less to face inside. She would continue to take these guys down one at a time if she had to.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God..." Sam continued, her eyes squeezed shut, her hands hands having moved to cover her ears.

"Shut up, Sam." Angell told her through gritted teeth. She didn't need for the two men that she could hear slowly making their way towards them to hear her. Them knowing she was hysterical would not help their cause, besides, it was really annoying. "I need you to at least be quiet, Sam. I have to hear their footsteps." She added, hoping it would at least give Sam a logical reason to calm herself.

More shots fired. Wood splintering and one of the bullets coming all the way thru the cabinet right between the women. Angell looked at Sam, her eyes were huge, her mouth open as if to scream, but no sound would or could come out. "Here, take this." Angell said, taking her still flipped open phone from her back pocket and pressing it into her hands, "Talk to your brother."

"Donnie? Donnie, are you there?" Sam pleaded into the phone.

Angell heard another bullet ricochet, this time off the floor under the cabinet. 'Under the cabinet?' she asked herself. 'Yes, it's on casters.' she noticed. She had an idea...

Angell layed down on her stomach, watching their feet via the gap beneath the cabinets. She aimed.

"Aaah! Aaahhh!" Both men cried out as bullets went through their shoes, sending them both crashing to the floor.

Angell took aim again, and Five was gone. Two to the chest. She quickly slid out from behind the island on her knees, aiming and sending a bullet into Two's shoulder.

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
Flack couldn't help the grin of satisfaction that crept across his face as they all watched Angell shoot two perps in the feet to bring them down and withing her scope. Damn she was good, and it was helpful to have the monitors up and running.

"She's good." Carr said.

Flack was about to answer when he heard something, was that Sam? "Sam?" Flack said into the phone, forgetting that the volume on his speaking end has all the way down.  
"Donnie? Donnie, are you there?" Came her voice again.

Flack turned up the volume so she could hear him. He was just so relieved to hear her voice. "I'm here, Sam. I'm here. What's going on in there."

Sam's words were hard to make out, broken into sounds between gun shots, mixed with hysteria. "Here, Dad." Flack said, handing is father the phone, "I need you to see if you can calm her down and get some useful information outta her." He also knew it would give his father something to do and make him feel useful.

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
The back door flew open and Three rushed in, joining Two, who had managed to make it over to the end of the teller's counter, leaving a trail from his bloody shoe.

Angell's gun was empty and she pulled up her pant leg to retrieve the extra magazine from her ankle holster. "Tell Don I'm running out of bullets here." She told Sam, not realizing that the phone had been passed to their father.

Two more bullets penetrated the frame of the island and Angell again returned fire, counting down the bullets she had left.

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
"My team is ready and waiting for my signal to enter through the rear door. They should be able to quickly get downstairs to the male hostages." Diaz said to the group assembled. "Bradley, how's it lookin' in there?" He directed the question to the SWAT member who had traded his binocular vigil for the bank's camera feed on a monitor.

"Detective Angell has the lone female hostage with her, shooting it out against 2 perps." Bradley said, still without looking away from the monitor.

"Keep me posted, Bradley." Diaz instructed, then turned back to the group. "With all the blinds closed, my snipers have had no view of anyone to take out."

"They've refused to answer any calls." Layne added. "Doesn't appear they're interested in any negotiations or have any demands."

"No demands? Surely they know we're out here." Flack said, keeping an eye on his father in his peripheral vision.

"Not necessarily, Flack." Lieutenant Carr said, "They weren't expecting an off-duty cop to be in the bank. One that gave us information about their numbers. Nor for her partner to be across the street. They'd expect cops to show up, but not as fast as we got here. Probably figured they'd be long gone by now."

"Don," Mr. Flack said, coming closer to his son and gesturing to the phone where he still had open communication with Sam, "Angell says she's running out of bullets."

"And we're running out of time, Diaz." Carr said, "Get ready to give that signal."

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
"I'm outta bullets." Two said, setting his gun down on the counter and sliding down to the floor, his shoulder bleeding as much as his foot. Their crew hadn't planned on a cop being in the bank or ending up in a shoot out like this.

"Listen to me, Sam." Angell said, making sure they had eye contact, "When I tell you to run... do. it. Do you understand me? Don't hesitate. Don't argue. Just run. Run as fast as you can."

Sam nodded, "Aren... aren't you coming with me?"

Angell shook her head, "Just tell Don I said 'by the book'. Okay?"

"'By the book'? What's th- ?" Sam asked, her lower lip still quivering.

"Don't worry, Sam. Don will know what it means. Just be ready to run when I tell you to." Angell instructed, then watched Sam nod in wordless understanding. "Now give me your shoes."

"How about an eye for an eye?" Three said with a smirk to Two, who had a questioning look on his face. "I'm about to get even for ya." He added, taking careful aim.

Angell waited. She suspected the gun fire was from only one perp now, but still had to be patient, using her remaining bullets wisely till help arrived. Then the shot came,...

Angell watched the shoe go flying as the bullet hit it. She shot up like a loaded spring, over the top of the counter and squeezed the trigger, sending her last bullet into Three. Three spun around as his body recoiled at the bullet's ripped through his left bicep. He picked himself up from the floor as fast as he could, trying to regain his standing position, but as he stood, Angell came flying over the top of the counter as if sliding across the hood of a car. She knocked him back down and his gun went sliding across the floor.

"Run, Sam!" Angell yelled as soon as she saw Three's gun fly out of his reach.

Sam slowly backed her way towards the door. She did not run like she'd been instructed to do. She wanted to, she really did. She was terrified and wanted out of there, away from the bad men and all those guns. But for some reason she could not tear her eyes away from them fighting. She just continue to back her way slowly towards the door, towards freedom, to the safety of her father and brother who were out there waiting for her.

Angell was holding her own against the two men. It hadn't taken long for Two to see that he would have to help his partner in crime Three, or the lady cop was gonna kick his ass real fast. His foot throbbed and he kept slipping on the blood from it, or maybe that blood was from his shoulder, either way, he finally pulled himself up to his feet again and leaped onto Angell's back as she was throwing a kick and sending the heel of her right boot into Three's gut. This knocked Angell down, landing on her stomach. With Two on top of her it knocking the wind out of her. She rolled over and looked at Two, who was still bent over her, enjoying taunting her at the moment. She could hear Three struggling to get himself up and she knew it wouldn't take him long to succeed. Even with both men injured, she didn't like these odds. It was time to end this.

Sam's bare feet continued to shuffle her backwards, closer to her freedom, she was trying to move faster, she really was, but for some reason continued to be held captive by the scene playing out in front of her. Her foot caught something...

**MEANWHILE, DOWNSTAIRS...**  
Trey was getting concerned, his men hadn't come back down yet. It shouldn't have taken this long. He had to go see for himself. But he didn't want to leave the men hostages unattended, so he decided to bluff, and walked out the door into the hallway. "'Bout time you got back." He said, looking to his right as if someone was there. He pulled the door most of the way closed. "I'm headed back up. If any one even tries to open this door... shoot 'em." He gave a nod, as if returning one, shut the door the rest of the way, then headed upstairs.

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
"My men have entered through the rear door." Diaz said, putting his radio down. "As soon as they have the downstairs secured, my second team is ready to charge the front entrance."

"I'm joining them." Flack said, looking at Carr.

"I had a feeling you would." Carr replied, knowing the detective was concerned for his partner and handing Flack a shotgun.

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
Angell knew she needed to use her head, and her head told her to use her arms and legs, both. So she used her left leg to wrap around Two's neck and pulled him down, her right boot darting up in the process and meeting with his injured shoulder. She needed to cut off his air supply long enough for him to pass out again and this should do the trick. But Three had gotten himself up, part ways anyway, and crawled his way over to Angell. Leaning himself over her shoulder, he began to choke her. She punched back while not loosening her leg's grip from around Two's neck, it was a less than lady-like position to say the least, but it was working and that was all that mattered at the moment. Two was struggling hard to get out of the grip Angell had him in, fortunately to no avail, but Three was doing too good of a job at cutting of her own air supply and she was getting dizzy. Time for a different tactic.

Sam had come face to face with Five after tripping over his legs, her hands landing in the pool of his blood when she tried to catch herself. In what could only be described as half rolling and half crawling on all fours, to get away from the dead man as fast as she could. Her hands, now covered in his blood, slipped on the tile floor beneath her. She managed to raise herself to standing and continue her journey towards the front door.

Using her left hand, Angell dug her nails into the bullet wound in Three's bicep. That did it. That caused him to loosen his grip from her neck and lean over in pain. Without any time to waste, Angell quickly grabbed him around the neck as tight as she could and pulled him over her shoulder, slamming his head into Two's.

Sam was finally at the front door, her back still to it. It was like she was frozen, just standing there watching. She hadn't been able to take her eyes off the two-against-one fight playing out in front of her. She didn't know why, she hated all this violence, and she wanted out of there. Donny was waiting for her out front, he had to be. 'Oh, crap. Donny's gonna be so mad after what I did.' She thought to herself... 'Crack' came the sudden sound that jerked her from her poorly timed stray thought. Sam's hand went straight to her mouth as she watched the aftermath of Angell's slamming the two men's heads together. Both men slumped onto the floor and Sam finally turned, pushed open the door, and ran.

Trey barged through the door leading back into the main part of the bank just as the brunette across the room was pushing the door open. He couldn't let her escape. She was the one that had seen them all without their masks on. He pulled his gun.

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
Flack was standing at the ready, along with the SWAT team, just outside the bank's front door. They were seconds away from the signal they were waiting for when suddenly the door swings open and Sam comes rushing out as she's being shot at. Flack extends one arm to hand off his shotgun and the other to grab Sam around the waist and pulls her to one side, away from the door and out of the line of fire. With her feet barely touching the ground, she is all but carried down the steps to awaiting EMS personnel. "I'll be back." Flack tells her before dashing back up the steps and into the bank.

**MEANWHILE, ALSO OUTSIDE...**  
Mr. Flack watched and waited. There was nothing else he could do. He had lots of friends and acquaintances on the police force there in Queens, but he was retired now, and there would be no stretching any rules or privileges in that regard. He had been allowed inside the perimeter, the roped off area to keep the general public away and safe. He was even allowed close to the core group of law enforcement who had undertaken this operation, Layne, Carr, Diaz, and of course his own son. He wanted to be close, to be able to hear, but he knew better than to get in the way. He paced some. He couldn't help it. His daughter was in there. And so was the woman he had no doubt that his son loved. He'd seen it in his eyes and in his smile, those that looked so much like his own, over the last two days. Time was just about up, no more attempts to contact for negotiatinions. The SWAT team was already inside the bank via the back door and now staged at the front door, his son among them. But then,... 'Is that Sam?', he asked himself. He watched is son grab her and pull her over to safety. He would surely take her to EMS, yes, indeed he was. He headed there himself, needing to be with his daughter.

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
Trey walked around the end of the teller's counter, taking everything in. Four's body still in the middle of the room, a bullet in his head. He looked to the far side of the room. Five was there semi-sitting against the wall, a bloody foot and two bullets in his chest, a trail of bloody footprints leading away from him. He walked across and in front of the teller's counter to the other end. Three came into view first, his bicep bleeding from a bullet hole, his lips a bit blue. Two was near him, his shoe soaked with blood as was the front of his shirt, his lips a bit bluer.

**MEANWHILE...**  
Angell untangled herself from the two men. Both unconscious after their heads collied with each other, at the very least. She stayed behind the counter. She had to find a gun. He was back, the last one, the one they called 'One', she heard him fire, probably at Sam. Stupid girl, why hadn't she run when like she was told to, like she was supposed to. There had to be a gun nearby, she just had to find it. There! Up on the counter. She grabbed it, looked up, Trey was aiming at her.

"Get out here." Trey ordered, gesturing with his gun for Angell to come out from behind the teller's counter.

Angell kept the gun in her hand low. He would soon know she had it, but why give away that information any sooner than necessary. She noticed the blood on his shirt, 'probably from him trying to find out if one of the men downstairs was the cop', she told herself.

"You killed my men." Trey said. His head was tipped back, so he was looking down his nose at her.

'Cocky', Angell thought to herself. She could hear him breathing deep and hard through is nose. He was furious, too, and armed, not a good combination. At least he still held his gun down at his side. Very cocky indeed.

"You didn't give me any choice." She finally replied as she slowly walked to the end of the counter, trying to keep her voice even and calm. No need agitating this guy, after all. "You ready to give this up?"

"No way." He said, "This ain't over."

"It's gonna end soon. You can either give up or be carried out in a body bag like your men." Angell stated, reaching the end of the counter, but not stepping out from behind it yet. She was feeling to make sure the safety was off on the gun. Of course it was, why wouldn't it be. Habit.

She watched as he shook his head, "No one's taking me down."

"Even if you could get past me, SWAT is right outside." She informed him, hoping he'd wise up and give up. She'd had enough. She wanted to go home. No, she wanted to go be with Flack.

"What makes you think I can't get past you?" He smirked. Obviously still cocky. "Now get out here." He ordered, his voice raised, but not yelling.

Angell walked out from the end of the counter. He saw the gun in her hand and raised his again. She was faster.

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
Diaz's black gloved fist was in the air, signaling the end of the countdown, then, "Go! Go! Go!" came his voice through their earpieces. The team all swarmed in through the front door, one right behind the other, their guns all drawn and at the ready.

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
Angell didn't need to look to know it was SWAT coming through the front door, she assumed Flack would be with them. "Told ya SWAT was right outside." Trey didn't respond as the SWAT team quickly fanned out like a crescent behind him.

Flack took in the scenario playing out in front of him. Angell vs. Perp. Standing maybe 10' apart, each with their guns drawn on the other. The way they were standing, this could look more like a fencing match, if they were holding swords instead of guns. She'd said through Sam that she was running out of bullets. Does her gun have any bullets in it? Is that her gun? Doesn't look like it. There were so many ways this could end, all but one of them he didn't like.

"Lower your weapon." The SWAT's team leader ordered, his voice firm and demanding, but not yelling. Nothing. No response from Trey, although he did watch from the corner of his eye as more SWAT members came in via the door that lead downstairs. They also fanning into a crescent, this time behind Angell, as if the two of them were in the center of an eye. "I said, lower your weapon." He repeated his order.

Dispite her calm and in-control exterior that the moment demanded, inside, Angell's heart was racing. Her breathing was heavy, though even. She maintained her sights on One, not daring to flinch, lest he mistake any movement as an attempt to shoot him. But that was something she didn't even know if she could do, mostly because she didn't know if the gun she'd picked up had any bullets in it. Surely it was Two's, but he had stopped shooting earlier, probably because he'd run out. Now she was standing there aiming a gun that was probably empty. She was sure Flack knew that, but what about the rest of the team surrounding them?

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
Amber Layne walked over to the ambulance, a stones throw from the bank's front doors. There were no more hostages inside the bank to help, but maybe she could help this woman who had been one. She took in the sight of the brunette lady, whom she had been told was Detective Flack's sister. And no one had to tell her the older man she was leaning against was their father, as she had noticed earlier that the two Flack men looked very much alike. Sam had one hand around her drawn up knee and the other tightly clutching a towel she'd tried to use to wipe the blood from her hands and feet. "Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod,..." She could hear Sam mumbling as she approached. "Samantha?" Sam looked up, mascara smeared under red-rimmed eyes, and nodded. "I'm Amber Layne, I work with the police here in Queens." Amber said, putting a reassuring hand on Sam's shoulder. She could feel Sam quivering under her touch, and heard her take a shaky deep breath, obviously trying to calm herself. "I'm glad you're alright, dear. Can you tell me about what happened." Layne didn't need to question Sam, she was just tring to distract her and give her something to focus her nervous energy on till the rest of the ordeal inside the bank was over.

Mr. Flack sat by his daughter, there was nothing he could do but hug her and give her the reassurance she needed at the moment. He could feel her shaking in his grip and hear the uneveness of her breathing, mixed with sobs and the occasional 'ohmygod,...'. He'd watched Layne head their direction, knowing exactly what would happen. He'd seen this scenario too many times before he'd retired, never once imagining his own daughter going through it. He tightened his arm around her, grateful that she was safe now, and glad for their mending relationship that afforded him the oportunity to be with her at the moment. Now if only the other brunette could be in another Flack's arms, safe and where she belongs.

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
"It's lookin' like we're gonna be there a while." Trey said, the silence was getting on his nerves.

"I've got all day." Angell replied cooly.

"Sounds like somene's got nothing else to do." He smirked back.

"On the contrary, I'm on duty." She replied, as she was sure it had to be after twelve o'clock and her shift had officially begun, "In other words, one of us is gettin' paid to stand here." She noticed he had no come-back to her comment, "You, on the other hand, aren't gettin' a dime outta this deal."

"I shoulda been long gone by now, with a whole lot more than a dime. Woulda been, too, if you hadn't been here. In fact, you coulda even come with me. I woulda shared." He said with a smirk on his face.

"Nah, I've got too many scum-bag losers to go hunt down. But don't worry, you'll be outta here soon enough as it is. Only question is; you goin' out in handcuffs or a body-bag? It's up to you. At this point, anyway"

Trey swallowed hard, "I'm not likin' those options, lady." He said, turning serious again.

"It's 'Detective'." She informed him, "And they're the only two you've got. We can stand here all day if that's what it takes, but your options aren't going to change." She informed him.

"Then we may just do that." He said, trying to gain the upper hand again.

"Works for me. At least I'm the one that's comfortable." She replied.

"What makes you think I'm not comfortable with the situation?" He said, his words sounding stupid, even to himself.

"Aside from the dozen guns pointed at you?" She asked rhetorically, "How about that mask for starters. It's turned out to be a warm day. Gotta be gettin' close to seventy, don't ya think?" She said, arching a brow just a bit, wondering how long it'd take for him to take the bait. "Mask like that's gotta be hot. The condensation from your own breath collecting on your skin,... making ya itch. The sweat from your brow running down your face, then onto your neck. You've been wearin' it for a long time now." She paused, "Like I said, I'm the one who's comfortable here."

Flack suppressed a smirk, as he was sure Carr, Diaz, and the entire SWAT team were as well. Angell was good at getting One distracted, making him want to speed up the process of getting out of here. He'd like that, too, as long as Angell was safe. It was still one against one as far as he was concerned, and he didn't like those odds.

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
"Here she is, Mrs. Flack." The officer said as they approached the ambulance and gesturing to Sam, who immediately stood when she saw her mother. They wrapped each other in a tight embrace, which brought a fresh wave of tears. Mrs. Flack had been waiting with an officer, just inside the taped off area. She was also retired NYPD, but as a dispatch operator had not maintained the contacts her husband had, and had wanted to stay out of the way until her daughter was safe and she could be with her.

"Let me look at you." Mrs. Flack insisted as she leaned back a bit and raised Sam's chin to get a better look at her. "You're alright?"

Sam nodded through the sobs. Words were not necessary at the moment and her mother pulled her close again. "Donald" She said, gaining his attention, as he remained seated but continued to rub his daughter's back to calm her. "Any word on Jessica?" She asked. He met her gaze and shook his head slowly without speaking. "Sam," She said, shifting her focus back to her daughter, "why didn't Jessica come out with you?"

"I...I don't know." Sam finally managed to say. "When she... she told me I had... to run, I asked her... why she wasn't... coming." Sam paused, again, "She just said some... something about a... a... a.. a book, I think it was." She finally remembered, looking confused, then obviously remembering something else, "Said Donnie would know what she meant."

Mrs. Flack pulled Sam close again, making eye contact with her husband. They both knew what 'by the book' meant; Jessica wanted out of that bank, too, but as an officer of the law her first priority was to make sure innocent citizens were safe, including their daughter.

"Ruth, why don't you stay here with Sam for a bit. I'm gonna go check on something." Mr. Flack said and saw his wife nod before heading back over to the monitors. He wanted another glimpse of what was going on inside the bank. Cop or not, he wanted his son out of there. And he wanted the woman his son loved out of there. "How's it going in there?" He asked Layne as he approached.

"Very little movement going on, after the initial entry. The only talking appears to be between Detective Angell and the perp, but there's no audio, so unless you can lipread..." She replied, gesturing to the monitor and seeing Mr. Flack nod out of the corner of her eye. "How's your daughter doing?" She eventually asked.

"Better." He replied, then paused, "She's, uh, she's pretty shaken up. Keeps rambling about noisy guns and Angell breakin' a guy's neck. I think that's what she said anyway. Kinda hard to understand her right now. This whole thing's just been too much for her. She's never had a desire to follow in the family footsteps and become a cop." He turned to her, "She can't even stand to be around guns."

"It takes a special and unique personality to be in law enforcement, Mr. Flack." Layne said. "It's far better for her to realize she's not cut out for it, than to attempt it for the sake of the family tree."

"Oh, yes." He replied with a nod, "I totally agree."

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
Two had slowly began to regain consciousness, soon followed by Three, as both men's oxygen levels had eventually returned to normal. However they came to, to find themselves shackled and armed SWAT members standing over them.

"See, I didn't kill all your men." Angell said, as Two and Three were lead out of the building via the back door to a second ambulance waiting behind the bank.

Trey didn't reply, but had to reisist the urge to wipe his brow. His sweat was starting to accumulate on the top rim of his mask and the first drops to run down had stung his eyes. He knew that he couldn't take this much longer. He needed to make a decision, now.

Flack, and he was sure Lieutenants Carr and Diaz as well, noticed One's sudden change in stature. His body language was surely in response to something going on in his mind. What was he thinking? Was he ready to give up? Was he ready to shoot his way out? If it was the latter, he was still sure Angell didn't have any bullets.

Angell saw it in his eyes, the moment before he squeezed the trigger. He'd had her in his sights the entire time and it would take nothing more than one minor move of an appendage to change everything. She heard the noise from the gun, but it was just a click. It didn't go off. She saw the sudden look of confusion, followed by panic, in his eyes before he looked down at his gun. She went for it.

"Stupid!" Trey mumbled to himself. The gun's safety had been on the whole time. They'd never expected to use the guns, let alone for things to turn out like this, so of course he had it on, he reminded himself. Switching off the safety to re-aim at the Detective before him only took a moment.

But it was a moment too long, as Angell had already taken the two steps necessary to close the gap between them and was kicking the gun out of his hand. As his gun went flying, One was swallowed from behind in a wave of black uniforms.

Flack breathed. Which shouldn't be such an accomplishment, but at the moment, it was. He'd told himself not to hold his breath, as passing out from lack of oxygen during a situation was less than desirable. But when he heard the click of the gun, he did it anyway. "Keep breathing, Flack." He heard her say, her hand now touching his arm, for which he was grateful, he needed the contact and rested a hand on her shoulder, their eyes locking for just a moment. He wanted more, but it would have to wait, as now was the time to be the professionals they were.

"You ready?" Lieutenant Diaz asked, approaching Angell as she still stood next to Flack. They had watched as the SWAT team shackled and prepared Trey, whom they now knew his name to be, for the perp-walk.

Angell shook her head, "No thanks. You go ahead."

Diaz raised a brow in surprise, "But Detective, you've..."

He paused at seeing her shake her head, "I'm not into the media circus, Lieu..."

This time he cut her off, "This isn't about the media, Detective. This is about you being the one to take these men down and protecting all those hostages. I'm offering you this because you deserve it."

"Your dad's gonna find out anyway, Jess." Flack said, knowing the real reason Angell didn't want to join the perp-walk. 'Oh, he knows me so well.' she told herself. "Even if he didn't watch the news or ever buy a newspaper, you know one of his cop-buddies is gonna say something to him." He paused, "It's gonna make front page, Jess, ya might as well give your dad something to frame." Angell looked at him, with only a slight glare. It was true, the media would be all over it, and yes her father would see surely it. But at the moment she didn't want to be rude or seem ungrateful either. "Alright." She finally said reluctantly and with a sigh.

"So, who's your dad?" Diaz asked her, decifering from Flack's words that he was also a cop.

"Cliff Angell. Jersey PD. Retired" She replied as they walked over to Trey.

"Detective Sargent Cliff Angell?" Carr asked in surprise. Angell nodded. "I thought the Angell name sounded familiar."

"You know my dad?" she asked, taking her badge from her back pocket to wear around her neck.

"I've met him, but just a few times before he retired. Mostly know of him." Carr replied as Angell took her place.

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
Cameras flashed and reporters continued talking to their respective cameras as the bank's doors opened and two SWAT members led the way, followed by Trey with Diaz having a firm grip on his left elbow and Angell a firm grip on his right elbow. Two more SWAT members followed behind them.

Sam and her mother watched from one side of the taped off area, Mr. Flack and Amber Layne from the opposite side, and Flack and Carr from the bank's doorway. All greatly relieved at the moment, and all with a twinge of pride as Angell and Diaz walked Trey Wilson to the back of the black SWAT van that would haul him away. The clanking of his shackles an indication of the justice that would be coming his way.

As the SWAT van pulled out, Mr. Flack saw Angell head for the ambulance where Sam was. He hurried to catch up and join her. "By the book, huh?" He said as they began walking together.

Angell smiled a bit awkwardly, "You know protocol, Mr. Flack."

"Yes, I do." He said, placing a hand on her forearm and they stopped walking. "And because you do, too, my daughter is alive." He added, turning to her, noticing the red marks on her neck from where they'd watched helplessly on the monitor earlier as one of the perps try to choke her.

Angell wasn't sure how to respond to his words, but he was sincere. That she knew for sure because his eyes took on the same shade of blue as Don's when he was being that way. "Let's go see how she's doing." She finally said, patting his hand that was still on her arm.

"How's she doing?" Flack asked his mother as he approached the ambulance.

Mrs. Flack shook her head, "Was doing better till the perp-walk. Seeing that man again really upset her." She said, rubbing Sam's back again.

"C'mere." Flack said, gesturing to Sam. She released her mother and rose to cling to her brother for a while. "You're lucky Jessica was there."

"You mean Mrs. Rambo?" Sam mumbled into his chest, in a tone he wasn't quite sure what to make of.

He leaned back to make eye contact, "Mrs. Rambo?" Flack asked, sure that his sister was oblivious that Angell and their father had approached and now stood behind her.

"Ohmygod, Donnie,... ya shoulda seen her. She like,... pulls a gun outta nowhere and... shot the guy right between the eyes." Sam began, eyes growing wide at the memories and becoming animated, "And she,... she choked the other guy till he... was blue, an' she's shootin' all over the place, then she's got one of those book things-"

"Book things?" Flack asks, cutting her off and needing clarification.

"Yeah. Ya know,... with more bullets in it." She said, still struggling with her words and agitated, but with her hands now on her hips as if she thought she was being knowledgeable.

Flack stiffled a laugh. His sister being so upset really wasn't funny, but her exaguration and animation was amusing, "Oh. You mean a 'magazine'." He corrected, a statement rather than a question.

"'Book', 'Magazine'. Whatever." She said back with a tinge of attitude now. "My God, does she stuff her bra with those things or something. It's like she just whipped that thing outta no where!" She added.

Flack looked over the top of Sam's head in time to see Angell roll her eyes and his father blush a little, "She keeps an extra 'magazine' in her ankle holster with her gun, Sam." His arms now crossed over his chest.

"Fine." Sam throws back at him, the annoying little sister in her mixing with the grown-up freaked out one at present. "But she still broke the guy's neck, Donnie. Why'd she have to do that?"

Angell couldn't take it anymore. Obviously the sound of Two and Three's heads crashing together lead Sam's imagination in the wrong direction. But hey, she could work with that.

"I told ya, Sam..." Angell said, causing Sam to spin around and face her in obvious surprise. Angell took a step closer, her arms still crossed, looking the younger brunette right in the eyes, "I told ya, I was outta bullets." And with that Angell walked, still straight-faced, past her and Flack to the officer who was trying to gain her attention.

"They need you back inside, Detective." The officer informed Angell and she headed up the steps to the bank's front door.

"You've got her freaking out again." Flack informed Angell a few seconds later as he caught up with joined her on her way up the steps. "She's all but hyperventilating right now." He added, and noticed a slight smirk on her face, as she continued looking straight ahead as she walked. He stopped her just a step inside the bank's doors, where his family couldn't see them, "Out of bullets, Jess?" He paused, "You did that on purpose." It was an assumption. She didn't answer. "I suppose she deserved it, after the way she's been."

Angell looked up at Flack, the slight smirk still on her face, then leaned in only slightly and whispered, "Consider it an early wedding present." Then turned and walked over to the CSI team that was waiting for her, leaving Flack standing by the door, now the one with a slight smirk on his face.

**AN HOUR LATER, STILL INSIDE THE BANK...**  
Flack had still not convinced Angell to let the paramedics check her out, "I'm fine, Don. Really, I'm fine." She said, hoping he'd drop it. But she really wanted to reach up and pull his lips down to hers and prove it to him. She was pretty sure that would convince him and shut him up.

"Really?" He asked in return. "'Cause those read marks on your neck say otherwise."

"And they've all been photographed for evidence. That's all that's necessary." She said, but saw the look on his face, "You're just not gonna drop this, are you?" She asked with a heavy sigh, knowing his answer already.

Flack didn't answer, but gave her a look with a raised brow, then slowly picked up a pen from the counter. He wove the pen through the two bullet holes in the arm of her jacket. "Nope." He finally said, looking back up at her.

"Fine." She relented, "But only because I don't want to have to listen to you complain all the way home."

Flack's cell phone rang and he looked down at the caller ID, "It's Sythe." He said surprised, since it was his day off.

"Crap." Angell mumbled, "Probably tryin' to track me down through you, wondering why I didn't show up at a scene or something."

"Lieutenant William Sythe?" Carr asked, approaching. Angell nodded. "May I?" He asked, with a mischievous smile and holding out his hand for the phone. "Yo, Willie!" Carr said into the phone as he wondered off.

"Willie?" Flack and Angell both asked at the same time. This was gonna be good and they looked forward to getting the details from Carr.

**OUTSIDE...**  
Mr. and Mrs. Flack had just watched Sam and the other hostages be loaded up. Now that they had all been released by the paramedics, they were being taken to the precinct to finalize their statements.

Mr. Flack, joined this time by his wife, returned to the monitor with the bank's feed to see what was going on. "It's still in your blood, Donald." Mrs. Flack said, resting her head on his arm to relax.

"Always will be, Dear. Always will be." He responded, kissing the top of her head.

**INSIDE THE BANK...**  
The CSI team had finished their photographing and evidence collecting in the upstairs areas and were now headed downstairs to do the same. Leaving Flack and Angell the last two in that part of the bank. Angell sighed, "I'm ready to go home." She said. But Flack took her arm, turned her to face him, and wrapped his arms around her, all in one swift motion and before she could even think of objecting. Not that she would, on the contratry, she needed his touch, to feel his arms around her, restoring the strength the day had taken from her. He had been afraid, so afraid of losing her that he just needed to hold her, and not let go for a while. "I just need to hold you, Jess." He said, feeling her return his grip and nodding against his chest.

**BACK OUTSIDE...**  
Mr. Flack watched on the monitor as his son turned Jessica in his arms and held her tight. He'd seen the fear in his eyes earlier, fear that he woud never get her back. And now that it was over, now that everyone had dispersed and only the eyes of the camera were left on them, he knew that he needed to hold her. Mr. Flack had been in those shoes himself, and remembering the relief, he gave his wife a gentle squeeze and turned the monitor off, giving his son and Jessica a sense of privacy in a moment when they needed just each other. _'Yep, not too far from the tree.'_ Mr. Flack thought to himself.

**FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA**

Okay, folks, I've decided there will be a 6th chapter, where Flack & Angell go back to visit his parents again in 2 weeks and get to meet Patrick.

I'm think that Patrick will be a teacher, but am open for suggestions.

Thanks for reading & please review... please!


	6. Chapter 6

Flack & Angell had promised his parents they'd return in two weeks for another Sunday dinner, and this time they are joined by the youngest Flack child Patrick, who drove down for the weekend.

My characters: Detectives Loren Kelly & Bryan Zeeks

My thanks to TerriBerri23 for the Beta read!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
French & Irish, chapter 6  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flack & Angell strolled leisurely down the sidewalk of the street in downtown Queens, their fingers laced together. It was another pleasant day in early March, the kind that let you wear only a light jacket and made you grateful winter was almost over. They were doing a little window-shopping on their stroll towards O'Malley's Restaurant & Pub to meet up with Flack's parents and younger brother Patrick. It had been two weeks since their last visit, and it was time for another Sunday dinner, as promised.

"Honestly, Ruth, you're reminding me of one of the kids when they were little at Christmas." Mr. Flack said to his wife in a rather amused tone.

Mrs. Flack put down the napkin she'd been absently toying with, "Well, can you blame me? You know how long it's taken me to get Don home for Sunday dinner,... just once? And now he says he's gonna at least try to make a regular thing of it?" Mrs. Flack replied.

"And bringin' a lady with him, to boot." The Flack's youngest child Patrick adds, making both his parents smile. Patrick was a clean-shaven young man of 25, slim like his brother and almost as tall. But he had medium-brown hair, his mother's green eyes, and for some reason had a slightly stronger Irish accent; probably from spending more time with his grandfather than his two older siblings had.

"Hey,... isn't that-" Mrs. Flack begins, as she sees two men walk in.

"-Loren Kelly." Mr. Flack finishes, then stands to wave the men over.

"Hey, Donald, what're you doin' here?" Kelly asks, weaving his way between the tables.

"Loren,... good to see you." Mr. Flack replies with a hand shake. "We're waiting for Junior and his girlfriend to get here." He answers, "Who's this?" He asks, gesturing to the young man with Kelly.

"This is my new partner Detective Bryan Zeeks." Kelly answers, as Mr. Flack and Zeeks shake hands and exchange greetings, "Gotta get someone trained so I can retire like you."

"Good, good. I need someone to help me finish restoring that old car." Mr. Flack says, dropping an obvious hint.

"Ha! You ain't never gonna finish that old thing. It's been parked in your garage since the day you retired, and it ain't goin' no where." Kelly teases, making everyone laugh.

"I'm afraid you're right, Loren." Mrs. Flack says, "I'll probably never get my garage back, but at least it keeps him busy and out from under my feet."

Kelly laughs and leans in for a hug, "It's good to see you, Ruth."

Introductions and handshakes are completed and Mr. Flack asks, "So, what brings you two here?" eyeing the file in Kelly's hand.

"Homicide case." Kelly answers, grimacing at the file. "Just bringin' some case photos with us to go over as we get outta the precinct in search of some decent coffee."

A few minutes later...  
"He's never gonna get it out of his system, is he?" Patrick asks his mother, as he gestures to his father who was now seated a few tables over, going over the case photos with Kelly and Zeeks. She just shook her head. It was a rhetorical question after all.

"So where's your missing witness?" Mr. Flack asks.

"Missing witness?" both men ask at the same time.

"Yeah, look at this photo taken in the kitchen..." Mr. Flack begins.

A few more minutes later...  
"Hey, look. Don's here. And I'm assuming that's Jessica." Patrick says to his mother.

Mrs. Flack turns to see them entering and waves them over. She hugs both, then says, "Jessica, this is my son Patrick."

Mutual 'it's nic to meet yous' are exchanged as Mr. Flack calls his son over, "Don, you remember Loren Kelly, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Flack replies, shaking his hand.

"Good to see you Don. Your father still talks a lot about you." Kelly says, "This is my new partner Bryan Zeeks."

Flack and Zeeks exchange greetings and shake hands, before Flack turns to his father, "Dad,... you're retired."

Kelly and Zeeks laugh, "Yeah, but I can always use a fresh perspective on a case." Kelly says. "In fact, I'd like to know what you think, Don."

Flack shakes his head and sighs, "Alright." Zeeks spreads the photos back out on the table and Flack checks out one at a time, "Where's your missing witness?"

"That's what your dad just asked." Zeeks chimes in.

"See. Told ya." Mr. Flack says smugly to his friend and former colleague, noticing his son now holding the same kitchen photo he had. "There's a cup ring on the counter, but no cup."

"Hey, Jess." Flack calls over his shoulder to Angell who is sat talking to his mother and brother, as he puts the photo back on the table.

"Yeah?" She asks approaching.

"Jessica,..." Mr. Flack begins, "Take a look at these photos for us, please."

Angell raises a brow and looks at Flack. "Uh, dad. Introductions first, don't you think." Flack said.

"Oh, yeah. You're right. Sorry." Mr. Flack says, realizing he'd been in a bit of a hurry and was forgetting his manners. "Detectives Kelly and Zeeks, this is Detective Angell."

"It's nice to meet you, Detective." both men greet over handshakes.

"We're needing some sets of fresh eyes to check out some case photos. Would you mind taking a look?" Zeeks asks Angell.

Angell studied the photos for a minute or two, then asks, "Where's your missing witness?"

Flack couldn't help but smirk, "Not only is there a cup ring, like dad noticed, but it's still wet."

"Yeah." Angell agreed, "And in the rest of the photos this house is as neet as a pin. No neet-freak would leave that."

"But there's a cup in the sink." Zeeks mentions, handing Angell a different photo.

"True." Angell agrees, "But that cup in the sink is much too large to have left this ring." She adds, handing him back the photo. "What you're looking for could be a juice glass or, more likely, is probably a wine glass. Which means your vic probably had company."

"Donald,... you sure you don't wanna come back out of retirement?" Kelly says.

"No thanks, Loren. I'm good." Mr. Flack says.

"Okay, but if you change your mind..." Kelly says, offering a thankful handshake, "And you can bring those two with you." He adds with a smirk, then he and Zeeks head back to the precinct.

A little later...  
Drinks had been passed around as they waited for their meal order, "Hey, Don, since it's not lookin' like I'll be back down in time," Patrick says, handing his brother an envelope. "_Breithl Sona_."  
_(translation: Happy Birthday)_

Flack puts down his beer and accepts the envelope from his brother, "_Bu ochas_, Patrick."  
_(translation: Thanks)_

"You can open it now, if you want to." Patrick says. "Or you can wait till the 17th, whatever you want."

Flack wasn't about to wait and opens the envelope, expecting a gift card or something along those lines, as his brother didn't like shopping any more than he did. Flack's eyes suddenly went wide open as he pulled out and examined the tickets in his hand.

"Is he gonna eventually speak or should I close his mouth?" Angell asks Mrs. Flack, jokingly holding her hand just under Don's chin. Both women laughed.

"March Madness tickets?" Flack finally managed to say. "Seriously?" He asks, examining the tickets, as this would not be a good time for little brother to play a trick on him.

Flack's mouth was open again, as if to say more, but his brother cut him off. "Yeah. Figured I couldn't go wrong."

"But how?" Flack asked, almost demanded. "These are almost impossible to get... even if ya can afford them... they're just-"

"Yeah, but I've had 'em for a little while, and I had a little help." Patrick says, "So if you don't offer that extra ticket there to your buddy Messer, he's gonna be pretty ticked."

"Danny?" Flack asks, turning slightly in his chair to face his brother better, "What's he got to do with this."

"I called him." Patrick answers, teasing his brother just a little.

"Yeah,... and?" Flack insisted.

"And, he confirmed that being in Madison Square Garden for part of March Madness was a great way to spend your 30th birthday. At that point tickets were already hard to get, but he said he knew someone who knew someone who could still get good seats. He said he'd wanted to get them himself but they were out of his price range. So, we made a deal. He'd work his connections to score the tickets, I'd bank 'em." Patrick explained. "Besides, it's not like I'm here in New York to get them, so Danny's help was worth the extra ticket."

"Wait a minute," Mr. Flack chimes in, "All that money paid in your college tuition, and your brother gets the benefit?"

Everyone's laughter was interrupted by Mrs. Flack, "Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed suddenly at seeing the price stamped on the ticket. "Well, I guess your father and I don't have to ask if your new job is working out well."

"Yeah, well, let's just say that all those years in dental school are starting to pay off." Patrick says. "_Breithl Sona, m r dearth ir_." He adds, turning back to Flack.  
_(translation: Happy birthday, big brother)_

"_Bu ochas_, Patrick." It seemed so weak as the words left his mouth, obviously not enough to convey his gratitude.  
_(translation: Thanks)_

"Guess you shoulda gone to dental school." Angell says, now looking at the tickets, but seeing Flack shake his head in her peripheral vision. "Look at it this way, Don, at least we can get you out of that chair for one night this month."

"What chair?" Mrs. Flack inquired, obviously curious.

Angell didn't reply. She just shook her head and pointed to her boyfriend who was smiling and knowing what she meant.

"When I got my first apartment, it was, um,... well, let's just say it was all I could afford right out of the academy. It was pretty small." He began, seeing understanding heads nodding all around him, "It was just a studio, is all, but it was my first place in Manhattan, so I was still pretty excited. So, anyway, I go to move in and the former owner had left a chair behind." He pauses, lowering his head and laughing to himself at the memory, "Truth is, it was the ugliest thing I'd ever seen. The landlord said he'd take it out as soon as he could. So, a few days later, the chair is still there, and I've still not no furniture besides a bed to sleep in that took up half of the room anyway, so I sat in the chair. To my surprise, it turned out to be the most comfortable old thing."

"And he still has it to this day." Angell adds.

"You still have it?" Mr. Flack asks in surprise.

"Yep." Flack answers with an enthusiastic nod. "It's a beat up old leather thing, but the foot rest still flips up and it's the most comfortable thing you'll ever sit in. I wasn't about to leave it behind when I moved."

"And he sits in it for every game he watches." Angell informed them all, and Flack nodded again.

After dinner...  
While Angell and Mrs. Flack check out a few stores nearby, the men continue to drink beer and hang out there at the restaurant. "That's quite a lady you've got there, Don." Patrick says, watching his older brother smile and nod in response.

"Yeah, that she is." Flack responded, still smiling.

"So, mom told me about what Sam did..."

Meanwhile...  
"Thank you." Mrs. Flack says to the clerk as she's handed the bag with her new blouse in it. Angell didn't purchased anything. She wasn't much of a shopper, unless it was for antiques. Otherwise she just preferred to buy what she needed and be done with it. She was however enjoying the time alone with Don's mother.

"So, I probably should let you know that Sam called me the other day." Mrs. Flack says as they head out the door and onto the sidewalk.

"Oh." Angell replies, wondering where this topic was leading.

"After all that awkwardness at your previous visit, she had a lot to fess up to. As if the sibling rivalry crap she loves to continue with her brothers wasn't enough, she had to go and plant ideas that you and Don were getting married." Mrs. Flack says, shifting her bag to her other hand. Angell knew she should say something, but wasn't sure what. Fortunately, Mrs. Flack continued, "I suppose it's partly my fault though."

"Why would it be your fault?" Angell asks as they continue walking.

"Oh, I don't mean the planting the ideas part, obviously that was her own doing and she's gotta own up to that and apologize to you and her brother both, but she was right about one thing." Angell waited for her to continue, which she did, "It was easy. My motherly heart has been wanting my children to settle down and get married for years now. With Donald and I both retired now, and many of our friends becoming grandparents these days, well, like I said, Sam didn't have a lot of work to do."

"I see." Angell said in a short and simple response, with a slight smile at the thought of her and Don giving them a grandchild some day.

"Jessica," Mrs. Flack says, halting her steps and turning to her, "Regardless of what happens between you and my son, my husband and I want you to know one thing; we like you, we really do, you're a wonderful person and a great cop, and most importantly, you make our son very happy. What more could parents want."

Angell smiled at the compliment, it made her happy to know they had accepted her, and more importantly, her relationship with their son.

"What about this store? They have every kitchen gadget you can think of. You wanna go in here?" Mrs. Flack asks, regaining Angell's attention, then noticing the look on her face, "Oh, that's right... you don't cook, do you?" Angell just shakes her head with a slight smirk. "How about the shoe store across the street?"

"Now you're talkin'." Angell replies as the two women head that direction.

Back at the restaurant...  
"Well, regardless of what Sam did and said, your mother and I just want you to know that we like Jessica. We think she's a wonderful person and obviously one hell of a good cop. You two obviously care a great deal for each other, and it's nice to see you this happy in your life, Don." Mr. Flack says to his son.

"Look who's back." Patrick says, noticing the ladies returning, each with a sack in their hand.

"Don't tell me... boots?" Flack asks, guessing at Angell's purchase.

"Told ya he'd know." Angell says to Mrs. Flack, setting her sack in an empty chair.

"Jessica, it's been nice meeting you." Patrick says, rising from his chair while she is still standing. "And great seeing everyone, but I've gotta hit the road."

"Have a safe drive and thanks again for the birthday present." Flack says as he, too, stands and gives his younger brother the ol' manly pat on the back.

"You're welcome. And tell Messer 'thanks for the help'." Patrick says, before turning to hug his mother, "Amanda and I will try to get back down for the long Memorial weekend, mom."

"We gotta head back, too, Jess." Flack says, before draining his beer glass, knowing it was time for everyone to head for their homes.

"You'll be back in two weeks. Right?" Mrs. Flack asks, "For a late birthday dinner?" She adds, as if her son needed an incentive.

Flack nods, "As long as the work schedule allows, mom. We'll be back in two weeks."

Almost 2 weeks later, on Flack's birthday, Friday, March 17th...  
A/N: Hey, Flack's an Irish boy! How Irish can ya get, but bein' born on St. Patrick's Day?

"Don't worry, Jess. I mailed it back two days ago. It should be waiting for you when you get home later." Angell's sister-in-law Jenna says. "Relax. It turned out great and he's gonna love it."

"Thanks, Jenna. I owe you big time." Angell says.

"No, you don't. That's what family is for, and I'm glad I could help." Jenna says, which makes Angell smile. "On second thought, yeah, you do owe me. So how about we finally get to meet this hunky detective boyfriend of yours?"

"Right now we've advanced to my meeting his family, so the next step is him meeting mine. So, don't worry, you'll get to meet him. But not yet, and in the meantime, I need you to keep quiet about this. I don't need my dad interrogating me." Angell replies.

"Don't worry, Jessica. Your dad won't hear it from me." Jenna says, "Uh, oh. I think I'd better go. Sounds like Shea found another pair of your brother's shoes to eat."

"Ooooo-kay. Well, good luck with that." Angell says, trying to stifle a laugh, "Thanks again." She adds, before hanging up. She takes a deep breath, knowing she needs to refocus on the paperwork on her desk and keep her mind off her birthday present for Flack till she can swing by her apartment later.

Two minutes later Angell's phone rings again, "Detective Angell."

"Hello, Jessica. This is Sam." Flack's younger sister says.

"Sam." Angell replies, "Is everything alright?" She asks, not immediately thinking of any other reason for her to be calling.

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine." Sam tells her, "I was just wondering if I could pick your brain for some ideas for my brother's birthday gift. I'm drawing a total blank this year."

Angell feels herself exhale and feel relieved, "Sure, Sam. But you've know your brother for a whole lot longer than I have, so I'm not sure how much help I'll be."

Angell and Sam talk and decide to meet at a store downtown during Angell's shift break. She was currently pulling her own shift, then after what was basically a longer than usual lunch, she was going to cover Flack's shift so he could go to the basketball game with Messer.

"How about this one?" Angell asks, holding up a shirt in Flack's size.

"I think mom already got him one very similar to that for Christmas. So if you don't recognize it, that probably means it's still in the box shoved in the back of his closet." Sam answers and explains at the same time.

Angell nods and puts the shirt back on the rack. "How about a tie?" She asks, with a hopeful tone in her voice.

Sam rolls her eyes before answering, "If my brother would actually wear even some of the ties we've all given him over the years, the cops would have nothing to make fun of him over."

"Seriously?" Angell asks, "You've all given him ties before?"

"Lots of 'em." Sam answers with a nod, "Not sure what he ever does with 'em either. 'Cause every time we see him, he's in the same ol' ugly ties he's owned for years." Sam pauses and looks at Angell, "We don't understand it either."

"What about something in the active-wear section or some non-clothing options." Angell suggests as they head for another department.

"Jessica, I want to apologize." Sam says, staring straight ahead as they walk down the wide main aisle.

Angell just smiled slightly and continued to walk. Sam needed to apologize and she would let her, obviously, but she would have to be genuine in doing so.

"You'd think my brothers and I would have outgrown this sibling rivalry stuff many years ago." Sam continued, seeing Angell was obviously not going to say anything. She had been wrong and she knew it, and now it was time to make things right, however awkward it was. "Okay, I've already gotta back up... you'd think _I_ would have outgrown this sibling rivalry stuff many years ago." She clarified.

"I've got four older brothers, Sam. I've seen my share of sibling rivalry." That was all Angell said at the moment, offering Sam just enough of a lifeline to continue.

"Jealousy would probably be a better description." Sam said, slowing down, but not quite stopping. She took a deep breath, "In all honesty,... I was jealous. One of my perfect brothers now has a perfect girlfriend, to make our parents even more proud of him. While I'm still the screw-up..."

"Stop it, Sam." Angell said, firmly yet gently. "You're not a screw-up."

Sam gave her a straight-faced look, "I've dropped out of community college. Twice. Can't hold onto a job. I'm in AA meetings. Every guy that gives me a second look always turns out to be the wrong type of guy. Heck, I can't even put a gas cap on right."

"Did you even ask yourself how I might have known what the problem with your car was?" Angell asked, ignoring everything Sam had said, except the part about the gas cap. Sam shook her head, she hadn't. "It's because I did the exact same thing." That got a slight smile out of Sam. "And that's because I'm not perfect, either. None of us are."

"Yeah. I know." Sam admitted reluctantly. "I just feel like such a screw-up sometimes. My parents are constantly disappointed in me. Like nothing I do with my life is right or good enough, and then to have two brothers that are sooooo... opposite." Sam finishes, not coming up with exactly the right words, but enough to convey what she meant. Or at least she hoped so.

Angell nodded, "I've got some of those 'perfect' brothers, too."

"Really?" Sam asked, genuinely surprised.

"Really." Angell replied.

Angell and Sam continued to shop and talk. A birthday gift was picked out, a heart-felt apology was spoken, then genuine forgiveness was offered and received.

As Angell set the box back on the display, she heard something that sounded familiar and held her attention.

"_Ne pas s'inquieter, nous ne serons pas pris. Et meme si nous faisons, nous ferons juste meme comme le dernier temps_" One young blonde girl said to the other, "_Pret_?" she asks, handing her the coat.  
_(translation: Don't worry, we won't get caught. And even if we do, we'll just do same as last time. Ready?)_

"Sam, I need you to go wait for me over in the shoe department." Angell ordered in a hushed tone, not taking her eyes off the two girls.

"What?" Sam asks confused, but not getting Angell to look at her.

"Just do it, Sam." Angell politely ordered, still in a hushed tone.

"Oh geez, you're not gonna whip another one of those magazine things outta your bra again, are you?" Sam asked, suddenly getting nervious and wondering what was going on.

Angell didn't reply this time, instead she suddenly whipped her head around and gave Sam a demanding look.

"Okay, okay. I'll be in the shoe department." And with that, Sam left.

Angell kept within eye sight of the two girls, getting close sometimes, even excusing herself a time or two as she reached for an item near them before putting it back on the rack. But they paid her no attention, continuing their conversation in French, not realizing they were being understood.

A few minutes later, "Hey, you come back here!" The store manager orders as the two girls were walking out an exit.

For the next several minutes the manager and a sales clerk stood there trying to communicate with the two girls who spoke only in French.

"_Il est un tel doofus. Meme ne peut pas chiffrer quoi faire avec nous_."  
They joked back and forth with each other.  
_(translation: He's such a doofus. Can't even figure out what to do with us.)_

"Should I call security?" The clerk asks the manager again, but he still didn't answer, he was just frustrated.

Angell had stayed back, wanting only to listen at this point. She saw the security guard headed their direction and intercepted him.

Back at the station...  
"_Je ne peux pas croire qu'ils nous ont arretes. Ils ne nous arretent jamais." _One girl said.  
_(translation: I can't believe they arrested us. They never arrest us.)_

Angell stood outside the window with the store's manager, watching and listening to the girls. "I intercepted your security guard to tell him that I'd overheard the girls' plan. I'm glad you agreed to have them arrested without letting on. Because they've pulled this off before. They're foreign exchange students, that part is true, but they speak English, when they want to that is. So they steal, then if they get caught, they just pretend they don't understand and managers get frustrated and let them go." She explains.

"Woulda worked this time, too, if you hadn't been there." The manager replies.

"Watch this." Angell says with a smirk, then head for the interrogation room door. Just wait till they found out their fellow shopper was also a cop.

"_Ne pas s'inquieter. Nous serons d'ici bientot." _One of the girls said as the door opened. Both girls' eyes went wide at seeing Angell enter.  
_(translation: Don't worry. We'll be out of here soon.)_

"_Bonjour, les dames. Je vois que nous rencontrons encore." _Angell greets with a smirk, the two girls of course remained silent. "_Quel est mauvais? Le chat a obtenu votre langue?" _She asks, taking a seat across the table and resting her elbows on it. "_J'ai voulu vous montrer juste que notre _  
_departement fin de jewelery a pour vous. Nous avons la belle selection de braceletts... et vous ne devez pas les voler meme, nous les donnerons vous liberez absolument." _She adds, letting the handcuffs dangle from her finger tip.

_(translations: Hello, ladies. I see we meet again._  
_What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?_  
_I just wanted to show you what our fine jewelery department has for you. We have lovely selection of braceletts... and you don't even have to steal them, we're going to give them to you absolutely free._

Angell walked into the bullpen to see Flack sitting at her desk. "Hey, what're you doin' here?" She asked, approaching.

"Just swung by to pick up Danny. He's just off shift and will be down in ten." Flack answered as he put the game tickets back in his inside pocket. He'd check at least five times to make sure he hadn't forgotten them.

"Got plans before the game?" Angell inquired.

"Burgers and beer at Sullivan's." Flack informed her.

"What?" Angell asks, seeing an unidentifiable look on his face.

"I just talked to Lieutenant Sythe." He answers, then pauses. "Turns out I was on the schedule for tonight after all, but someone switched shifts with me before it was posted."

She was busted. She'd gone to inquire about the schedule last week, just as Sythe was about to post it, and noticed Flack was on-call for today, his birthday. Knowing full well his trip to Madison Square Garden would surely be interrupted by a murder, she'd 'sugested' a few changes to Sythe. It meant her pulling a double-shift, but she was willing.

Angell leans in close to Flack and whispers, "Happy birthday." which made him smile.

Flack walks into his apartment and tosses his keys on the small table by the door. He'd just dropped Danny off after the game and came straight home. It was late, the March Madness game they'd been to see was awesome, truly a birthday to remember. He sat on the couch to take off his shoes when a small shiny blue bow caught his attention. He walked over to his wonderful but ugly leather chair and picked up the paper. It was folded in half and stood up like a tent with the bow on the front of it.

Flipping it open, he read:  
_Ar nd igh n raibh m ag dul ar scoil, fiacl ireachta, ach an oiread, mar sin as tic id cluiche beag de mo bhuis ad, freisin. Ach, t s il agam seo a thugann t roinnt chuimhn cinn sona._  
_Breithl Sona _~J

_(translation:_  
_Obviously I didn't go to dental school, either, so game tickets are a little out of my budget, too. But I hope this brings you some happy memories.  
Happy Birthday ~J)_

Putting the note down, Flack picks the gift up off the chair. _'Happy memories. What an understatemen'_, Flack thought to himself as he turned it over and over in his hands. He stood there for a moment, speechless and staring, before grabbing his phone.

"Angell." She answers. There was silence. She'd checked the caller ID and knew who was calling, and probably why, too. "I'm at a scene, so you need to say something." She teases.

He tried to think quick, "How about when you're done; I've got someone I need you to arrest for Breaking & Entering."

"It's not breaking and entering when you gave me a key." She teased back.

"Yeah, for emergency purposes." He replies, continuing their banter.

"My having only a small window of opportunity between shifts and while you were at the game, was an 'emergency'." She states, knowing he's smiling on the other end of the line and wondering if he was running his hands over his hair.

"Seriously, Jess,... how'd you pull this off?" He asks, running his hands over his hair and pacing his small living room just a bit. "I mean, it's wonderful... and I'm... well, kinda shocked."

Angell smiled at the thought that she'd pulled it off and made him happy. "Good." She states, then adds, "That means it was a surprise."

"I knew you spoke French, but didn't-."

"I don't." She says, cutting him off, "Sam helped me with the translation."

Flack inhaled slow and deep. _'Sam._' He thought to himself. _'She involved my sister.'_ The thought made him smile again.

"Flack?" Angell asks.

"Yeah, I'm still here." He says. "Just thinking about what a wonderful woman you are, Jess." He hoped she was smiling.

She was. "I'll pick you up when your shift's over tomorrow. Okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be ready." He confirms before hanging up.

Flack picks up the gift and takes with him it into the bedroom. He sets it on the far side of the bed, then pauses, and wonders if that side will ever be her side. Oh God, how he loved that woman.

Saturday...  
"I'm tellin' ya man, I couldn't believe it when I saw it there in my chair." Flack says, telling Messer about his birthday gift. They're in the locker room as Flack changes from his work suit into more comfortable jeans and a t-shirt, then pulls on his leather jacket. Their shifts are over, now they'll wait for Angell and head out to watch tonight's game.

"I'm just about done with my paperwork, then I'm headed to the locker room. I'll pick you up out front." Angell says to Flack as he and Messer enter the bullpen.

"Sounds good." Flack says, agreeing to their plan.

"You're still gonna follow us, right?" Angell asks, to confirm with Messer.

"Yep." He says with a nod, "Tell me again where we're going."

"Funny." Angell replies with a smirk, enjoying having the upper hand.

"Hey, Flack." Detecitve Patterson calls out, "How was the game?"

"Oh, it was fantastic. Had a blast. What a game. Tight score all the way." Flack and Messer both say, tripping over each others words as they detour to Patterson's desk to talk some basketball.

Several other officers and detectives gathered 'round to hear about the live action from the previous night's game. "You watchin' again tonight?" Officer Potter, the lone female among them asks.

"Oh, yeah." Flack and Messer both answer, "Not at the Garden this time, but we'll be watchin'."

"Watchin' on tv's better, anyway." Patterson says.

"Yeah, but ya gotta put up with all those commercials and stuff." Officer Henley chimes in.

"Yeah, I don't like my kids watchin' all those beer commercials." Patterson comments.

"Forget the beer commercials, it's the Viagra commercials that get weird. My 8 year old asked me during last night's game, 'Dad, what's that stuff for?'" Henley says, causing everyone to laugh.

"Did ya tell him, 'That's how we got you'?" Caine jokes, being his usual sexist pig self, but succeeding in getting a few laughs.

"Very funny." Henley says, giving Caine a Stern look. "Besides, what guy needs four hours? Four minutes, maybe." He jokes, causing a few more laughs, neither Flack or Messer among them.

"So, what's the problem?" Caine asks, "Not man enough to figure out what to do with the other 3 hrs & 56 minutes?"

Officer Potter excused herself as several of the guys were now having too much semi-crude fun at this point, with 'man-up' comments and jokes. Flack and Messer also decide to take their leave, they'd also had more than enough of the topic. Besides Flack had seen Angell leave her desk and head for the locker room.

The others all began to dispurse as well, "Ya outta here?" Flack was asked.

"Yeah. My shift's over, I was just waitin' for my ride." He answers, then shifts his attention back to Henley, "Yo, Henley. Forget about what those bozos said about 'manning-up'. Just husband-up and ask your wife what she wants for the next 3 hours & 56 minutes."

Henley stiffles a laugh as Flack walks away, knowing it was the first decent piece of 'advice' that had been offered on the topic.

Flack and Messer wait outside the precinct talking basketball for a few minutes. "I can't believe Angell still won't say where we're goin'." Messer says, leaning against his bike.

Flack shrugs his shoulders, "As long as we're watchin' the game."

"True. Hey, uh, you sure I'm not being a third wheel here?" Messer asks. He appreciated being included, especially since Lindsay was still in Montana, but didn't want anyone to feel awkward.

"It was Jess' idea." Flack says, as a black Honda Nighthawk 750 pulls up in front of him. 'Nice bike' he thinks to himself, then sees the driver, obviously a woman, briefly lift the tinted visor. He'd recognize those beautiful brown eyes anywhere and smiles back at Angell. Her black boots match her leather jacket, and the full-shield helmet conceals her brown locks tucked up underneath. He grabs the extra helmet from behind her and takes his place on the back of the bike, then Angell takes off, Messer right behind them.

FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA

**So, what did Angell get Flack for his birthday? **  
**Where is Angell taking Flack and Messer? **  
**You're gonna have to wait for the next chapter to find out!**


	7. Chapter 7

Wouldn't it be fun if we had all the time we wanted to write our FanFiction sories? But it's not that way...sorry for the delay.

I've been using an online translator for the French & Gaelic parts. They're not always word-for-word accurate. So, hopfully no mistakes.

Wanna know what Angell got Flack for his birthday? Well, in this chapter you're going to find out. You're also going to learn what Angell was looking at in the kitchen right before she and Flack left his parents house at the end of chapter 3.

My character for this chapter is: Kellie O'Malley

FYI - I'm putting a list of Flack & Angell family members on my page, which you might find helpful, since my stories build on each other and some characters re-appear.

Gotta say "Thanks!" to my beta reader TerriBerri23.

Chapter 7 picks up right where chapter 6 left off.  
It's still Saturday March 18th

**French & Irish, chapter 7 **

Angell was feeling confident. Right now she was taking her boyfriend, who was currently straddling her on the motorcycle she was riding, out for his birthday. It should be a good evening; some March Madness, some laughs, some drinks. Oh, and of course meeting her brothers, even though he didn't know about that part, yet. The French had met the Irish, and now it was time for the Irish to meet the French. Yes, this should be a very good evening.

She pulls into the lot of the APB, sharing a parking space with Messer's bike. Flack leans back to take off his helmet, releasing his arms from around her waist in the process. She immediately misses his touch, but tries not to let it show. Angell also removes her helmet, letting her brown waves fall over her shoulders and down her back. This of course got Flack's attention.

"So, what's APB stand for?" Messer asks, dismounting his bike and slightly confused at why they were there instead of at Sullivan's. After all, if they just wanted to watch the game at a bar, Sullivan's would have been just fine, and been a lot closer, too.

Angell laughs slightly to herself, "That,.." she begins, pointing to the sign he'd referred to, "...that stands for Angell's Point Bar and is my brother Jacob's lame attempt at using cop lingo." Flack stifled a laugh, which didn't go unnoticed. "Told you it was lame. But, he serves the best chili you will ever taste."

"So, your brother owns this place, huh?" Flack says, kinda wishing he'd know it was about to be his turn to meet some of her family.

She noticed both his nervousness and Messer's smirk, "Told him I'd be bringing some co-workers with me tonight to watch the game."

"So, what? I'm just here as part of a head-count or somethin'?" Messer asks, playing hurt.

But before she could answer, two more motorcycles pull in and share the space next to them. Angell smiles as her friends, Detective Kate Panner and Officer Susan Gerber from the 424th precinct, park and remove their helmets.

"Well, hello again, blue eyes." Panner teasingly greets Flack.

Flack smiles back, "Hey, Panner. You come to watch the game, too?"

"Something like that." She replies with a teasing tone and smile.

Messer leans in and almost whispers to Angell, "More for the head-count?" He was seeing right through her plan.

She smirks back, but does not deny it.

It was time to make some introductions, before going into the bar; "Detective Kate Panner and Officer Susan Gerber with the 424, you remember Detecitve Don Flack." The two ladies nod, "And this is Detecitve Danny Messer, with the New York Crime Lab." She says, "His wife couldn't be here. She's out of town." She adds, noticing how her friend Gerber is looking at Danny.

As everyone is headed inside, "Ya bring along an extra guy, and he's married?" Gerber all but whispers to Angell as they walk, "Ya know this means I'm hittin' on your brothers tonight." She jokingly adds.

Angell laughs, "Joshua might come by later." She says, since Jared and Jacob are both married. This causes Gerber's smile to drop.

"Hi, Jessica." The bar tender Lisa greets as Angell enters first. "Jacob, your sister's here!" She calls over her shoulder.

"Hi, Lisa." Angell greets back as she passes in front of the bar counter to greet her brother, who gives her a hug.

Flack remembered meeting Jacob when he visited the precinct once. He was a tall slim man, resemblances between he and his sister quite strong, with the same brown hair and eyes. Jacob also had a scar that ran along his jaw line.

"Bon de vous voir, la petite soeur." Jacob says, greeting his sister.  
(translation: Good to see ya, little sis.)

"Vous, aussi, Jacob." Angell replies.  
(translation: You, too, Jacob.)

"Je vois que vous avez amen certains de vos coll gues avec vous pour appr cier le jeu." Jacob observes.  
(translation: I see you brought some of your co-workers with you to enjoy the game.)

"Oui, et nous ne devons pas ingore les aiment ceci." Angell says.  
(translation: Yes, and we shouldn't ignore them like this.)

Upon releasing his sister, "So, who do we got here?" Jacob asks, turning to the group while keeping his left arm draped over his sister's shoulders.

"Well, you already know Kate." Jacob nods and gives Panner a smile and wave, "And this is officer Susan Gerber, also from the 424."

"Bonjour, Susan. Nice to meet you." Jacob says, shaking her hand. "Jessica's mentioned you before."

"And these two are Detective Don Flack from the 12th precinct and Detective Danny Messer from the New York Crime Lab." Angell says, trying to stick to the group feeling and not single Flack out in any way.

"Bonjour, guys. It's nice to finally meet some of Jessica's co-workers." Jacob greets, again shaking hands. "So, what's everyone drinking tonight?" He asks.

Flack takes a drink of his beer and leans in ever-so-slightly towards Angell, "So, is this a 'safety in numbers' kinda thing ?" He asks, keeping his voice low and not wanting to draw any attention to his close proximity to her.

"Kinda." She answers quietly, without looking at him. "I wanted to take you out for your birthday. And, we both wanted to see the game. And, hopefully Danny is thinking about something besides how much he misses Lindsay for a few minutes. And yes, if you just happen to get to meet a brother or two on a social level that would be a bonus."

Flack smiled, even though they still were not making eye contact. She'd put some thought and effort into this. He appreciated that about her. He started to speak, but she did first-

"Of course, with any brothers here, that means I can't grab you by the shirt, pin you up against that wall, and proceed to kiss you senseless." She pauses, turns to him, and adds, "Remind me to give you your birthday kiss later." before walking away, leaving him with a smile on his face. He would definitely not forget to remind her later.

"The game's about to start." Jacob announces to the room as he folds back the mirrored shutters behind the bar to reveal a huge flat screen tv.

"Boom." Messer exclaims, eyeing the massive screen.

"What? Ya didn't think we were gonna watch on those, did ya?" Jacob asks, referring to the other screens around the bar. Messer just shrugs. "Nah. Well, they'll be on the game, too, but this thing set me back a penny or two, so I keep it covered up till it's game time."

No matter which team they were rooting for, everyone enjoyed the first half of the game, and now at half-time, Angell's oldest brother Jared and Jacob's wife Jenna had just arrived, which of course meant more introductions.

"So, did he like it?" Jenna asks Angell, as the two women finally found a few minutes alone to talk. Angell smiles. "I'll take that as a yes." Jenna teases.

"He loved it." Angell replies, with a nod and still smiling.

"Loved what?" Panner asks, coming over to the booth and obviously curious.

Angell indicates for her to lower her voice and join them, then checks to make sure no one else is within ear-shot. "Jenna helped me with Don's birthday present." She answers, then notices that Panner is waiting for more, "Okay, okay." She says, giving in, "A while back Don took me to meet his parents for the first time, and while we're there his mother brings out this box that had some of his old high school stuff in it. It had been stored in their attic and unfortunately the moths had eaten away at some of it, including his old basketball and hockey jerseys. It was obvious he was disappointed, and his mother was so upset she couldn't throw them out till he wasn't looking. So, when we were about to leave I... well,... sort of,... took 'em back out of the garbage when no one was looking."

Panner raises a brow, then finally says, "Keep going."

"Well, Jenna here is queen of the sewing machine, so I mailed them to her to see what kind of crafty magic she could pull off... and I lucked out. She was able to take the front of one and the back of the other and turned them into a pillow." Angell finishes explaining.

"Here." Jenna says, holding up her cell phone for Panner to see, "I took a picture of each side."

Panner looked at the photos, and sure enough, Jenna had taken the front of Flack's basketball jersey with the name North Queens High School and mascot on it, and the back of his hockey jersey that included his name and number on it, and sewed them into a pillow.  
"That is amazing." Was all she could say for a moment, "You can even tell where the arm and neck openings were on the basketball side." She adds, handing Jenna back her phone.

"Yeah, the basketball jersey, had to be sewn onto a backing first, but I wanted to keep part of the openings, so it's obvious it's from an old jersey." Jenna says.

"That must've been a priceless look on his face when you gave it to him." Panner says.

"Actually, I wasn't there. I snuck it into his apartment when he and Messer were at Madison Square Garden for last night's game. He found it when he got home." Angell says.

"The game's back on!" Several of the guys call out in unison as half time was over.

More drinks were passed around, mostly coffees this time, as everyone had to drive later. The bar was very busy, the big screen an attraction for such sporting events, and everyone was having a good time. Angell excused herself from her place at the bar to go check a voice message in a slightly quieter location, if that was possible. She sent a text for a reply, then heads back to her seat, a bar stool between Gerber and Flack, not noticing who had come in the door.

Angell felt his arm wrap over her shoulder and around her neck, starting to pull her down. But she responds quickly, with moves of her how, and soon the two were in a little hand-to-hand battle right in the middle of the crowded bar.

Flack and Panner were the first two to notice, not that it did much good, because by the time they'd reacted to what was going on, it was all but over.

"Joshua, Jessica,... let go." Jacob ordered in a stern voice as the two were in semi-mutual headlocks. He had his arms out to stop others, including Flack and Panner, from approaching them. "I said, let go!" And with that order he turns to Jessica's co-workers to explain. "Joshua owns a martial arts studio. Taught Jessica everything she knows. So, any time they see each other, especially if they think they've got the upper hand, they like to each prove to the other who's the best." And with that explanation, Jacob walked away, taking his place back behind the bar as if nothing unusual had happened.

At the next commercial break, so they didn't interrupt the game, more introductions were made to include Joshua. "That's quite a way you and your sister have of greeting each other." Gerber says.

"She's good, and she knows it. I've just gotta remind her every once in a while who her teacher is." Joshua says with a smirk that Gerber really wanted to wipe off his face.

"And you need to be taken down a few notches, whenever possible." Angell says, interrupting, but not caring, and with a smirk of her own.

The game was almost over, the two minute warning had been given. Of course two minutes in basketball equals about half an hour in real time.

"Did you really eat all those?" Angell asks Flack during a beer commercial, eyeing the large plate of chicken wing leftovers in front of him. He nods.

"I nearly lost a finger tryin' to get one." Messer chimes in, causing a laugh. "They're almost as good as his chili."

Then a Viagra commercial came on. Angell leans towards Flack, "I heard about what you said to Henley earlier today." He didn't respond, as if trying to figure out what she was talking about. "About the best way to spend 3 hours & 56 minutes." She reminded him.

Flack tried not to smile or blush, but it didn't work. All Angell could think was how he was so unlike any other guy she'd ever known.

Twenty-five minutes later the game was over and the conversation had turned to food and who was still hungry for what. "Well, I'm headin' for home. I've got leftover spaghetti in the fridge." Messer says, looking down into his jacket pocket as he digs for his keys.

"What?" Flack asks.

Messer looks up, "My ma. I had dinner with her last night. She sent me home with-"

"No, no, not you, Danny." Flack says, waving a hand to stop his friend's ramblings. "I've had your ma's spaghetti. Good stuff. I was asking Jared 'what?' because it's all he can do at the moment to keep from bustin' up laughin'." He clarifies. "So, what's up, Jared?"

"It's nothing. Just a standing joke in our family," Joshua says, cutting in, since Jared was trying to wave Flack off and not answer. "Whenever we hear 'spaghetti' we all automatically think of Jessie."

"Ooooo-kay." Flack says, obviously not understanding and trying to ignore Joshua's use of the name 'Jessie' which he knows she hates.

"Oh, geez. Not that again." Angell interrupts. "Come on, guys. Let's go." She adds, pulling on her jacket. "And stop calling me that! Secousse!" She adds, swatting her brother's arm.  
(translation: Jerk!)

"No, no, no, no. I wanna hear this one." Flack insists, a hint of teasing in his tone, causing Angell to roll her eyes.

"Come on, Jessica. I wanna hear this one, too." Panner insists.

"Yeah, me, too." Messer adds, earning himself a glare from Angell. "What? I'm Italian. My interest is peaked here." He adds, attempting to justify.

"Okay, so ya all probably know that Jessica can't cook." Jacob begins, seeing nods from everyone but Messer. "So one day, Aunt Gail has had a very hectic day and is a hurry trying to get dinner on the table because dad will be home very soon and we've all gotta leave as soon as dinner is over. So, the spaghetti noodles are done and ready to be drained. So, she-"

"Wait a minute," Angell interrupts, "This is the part you always get wrong, so let me at least finish." Joshua shrugs, yielding the floor to his sister. She takes a deep breath, not really wanting the story to be heard in the first place. "The first thing you're all gonna know that I was only 8 years old when this happened, and that I'd never made more than toast in my life."

"You still can't make more than toast, Jessie." Joshua interrupts, then laughs. This earns him a glare from both Flack and Panner.  
(A/N: if you've read my story "Rest Your Wings" you know Joshua is the only one who calls her 'Jessie', and you know why he does it, and why she hates it.)

"Any-way!" Angell says sternly and giving Joshua a look. "Aunt Gail had told Jared to drain the spaghetti noodles, not me. He was just too lazy and told me to do it. 'Just go dump them in the sink', he said. So there I was struggling with this heavy pot, trying to get it over to the sink like I was told... and, well... there was this large bowl in one side, so I dumped the noodles in the other side. Then-"

"Wait a minute." Messer interrupts, rubbing his face and rocking on his heels a bit. "This, uh 'bowl',... it, uh, it didn't happen to have small little holes all over it. Did it?" Then he bust up laughing at the look of affirmation on all the Angell siblings faces that 8 year old Jessica didn't know what a colander was for. Panner and Gerber were also laughing, but not as hard.

Flack was trying so hard not to laugh, but it wasn't working. He even had his hand up across his face, trying to look casual, but was obviously trying to hold his cheeks down to keep from laughing as hard as his buddy was doing. His attempt was failing miserably and he was pretty sure he would pay for it later.

Once the majority of the laughter had died down, "Well, just so you know, even though Aunt Gail was mad at having to take the time to cook more noodles, it was Jared who got in trouble over it, not me. Asking an 8 year old to handle a heavy pot with boiling water... not very smart. And then dad got home a few minutes later, needing us to all eat and run that evening, but dinner wasn't ready. Yeah, Jared got in trouble all over again."

"He still hates it when I make spaghetti." Jenna says, earning a few more laughs.

"Well, it's been nice meeting all of you, but we've got shift in the morning." Gerber says, referring to her and Panner both.

"Yeah, I've gotta head home, too." Jenna says, giving her sister-in-law a hug. "I'm sure Shea has eaten something he shouldn't have by now."

"Here are you keys, Jessica." Jared said, handing his sister her car keys. "You're parked right next to the bikes. And next time it needs a tune-up, don't wait so long."

"Merci, Jared." Angell says, taking the keys from him in exchange for the motorcycle keys and helmet she'd borrowed for Flack to use. "It sure is nice having a mechanic in the family."

"Good night", "Bonne nuit", "It was nice meeting you" and "Au revoir" exchanges were said all around and everyone left.

**FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA**

"Jared wouldn't let you pay, because I already had, that's why. And this,..." Angell said, holding up the sack of Chinese take out she was carrying, "...is the rest of your birthday dinner because chili and wings obviously wasn't enough to fill you up. Why are you finding this awkward, Don?" She asks, following him into his apartment.

"I don't know. I'm just not used to people buyin' my dinner." He replies with a shrug, even though she's giving him 'that look'. "Okay, okay. I'm not used to the women I date buyin' my dinner. Is that better?" He adds.

"At least it's an honest answer." She says, putting the sack of Chinese food on the coffee table before removing her coat. "But if it means so much to you, I'll make sure you pay next time." She smirks. "But for tonight, it's your birthday, so I'm buyin'."

"My birthday was yesterday." He says, obviously teasing and setting plates down on the coffee table.

"Et je vous dois toujours un baiser d'anniversaire." She says, looking at him while pulling the wooden chopsticks apart.  
(translation: And I still owe you a birthday kiss.)

Flack sat on the couch, leaning his head back, staring at her, but not speaking.

"Peut- tre je ne vous pinglerai pas contre le mur." She continues, smiling at him.  
(translation: Maybe I won't pin you up against the wall.)

He still doesn't reply, but smiles back.

"Je le type d'aime o vous tes maintenant." She says, shoving the chopsticks into the take-out box of Mar Far Chicken.  
(translation: I kind of like where you're at right now.)

His smile grows, "I have no idea what you're saying, bit it's very sexy."

"Vraiment?" She asks, moving to stand in front of him. "Vous c'est dommage que ne peut pas me comprendre."  
(translation: "Really? It's too bad that you can't understand me.)

"You're gonna drive me crazy, ya know that?" Flack says, reaching for her waist and watching her smile grow. He knew she was having a lot of fun teasing him like this.

"Fou? Mais je ne vous ai pas embrass m me pourtant." She teases, bending a knee to put beside him on the couch.  
(translation: Crazy? But I haven't even kissed you yet.)

"Something tells me you already know you're driving me crazy." He says, reaching for her other knee to pull it up on the other side of him.

"Oui, je sais exactement que je vous fais. Et c'est amusant." She says, now straddling him on the couch, but up on her knees. She puts her hands on the back of the couch, on either side of his head, looking down at him.  
(translation: Yes, I know exactly what I'm doing to you. And it's fun.)

"This had better have something to do with that kiss you owe me." He says, his head again laid on the back of the couch and looking up at her.

"Tr s bon, le D tective." She says, looking down at him.  
(traslation: Very good, Detective.)

"'Cause I'm not gonna let you forget that birthday kiss you promised me." He says, wrapping his arms fully around her waist.

"Ne pas s'inqui ter." She says, leaning down to meet his lips for a brief kiss, "Je n'oublierai pas." She adds, before kissing him again. This second kiss was soft yet passionate, and anything but brief.  
(translation: Don't worry. I won't forget.)

Flack's large hands were resting on the back of Angell's slim thighs. He wasn't quite sure how they got there. He distinctly remembered putting them around her waist to pull her close as she leaned over him, but not sliding them down over her hips or wrapping them about mid-thigh. Although, he kinda wished he'd remembered that part. Maybe, just maybe, he didn't remember because they were so comfortable with each other since these makeout sessions of theirs were becoming so common when they were together. Yes, surely that was it, he told himself. Of course, he didn't remember giving her tongue access either, but given their current game of tonsil-hockey, he had surely done that at some point as well.

Angell slowly lowered herself down to sitting on Flack's lap, so she was no longer looking down at him, before breaking the kiss. "Joyeux anniversaire." She said, looking into his eyes, their faces only inches apart.  
(translation: Happy birthday)

"Yes, it certainly has been." He said, assuming he understood her. He felt the soft curls of her hair surround his right hand as he reached to the back of her neck. He just looked at her, lost in those mesmerizing brown eyes of hers, then noticed her lips, slightly swollen from their kiss. He reached up with his left hand and caressed the side of her face, running his thumb along her cheek bone. "Oh God, you're beautiful, Jess." He said before kissing her.

_'Oh, God, how I love this man.'_ Angell thought to herself. It wasn't just the passionate kiss they were sharing at the moment that was making her think that, either. It wasn't just the feel of his hand laced into her hair, keeping her pulled close to him. Or his intense blue eyes that left her all but dazed when he looked at her. It was so much more than just anything physical between them. It was him, all of him, every part of him, and she knew it. She loved him, and she knew it.

_'Oh, God, how I love this woman.' _Flack thought to himself. It wasn't just the passionate kiss they were sharing at the moment that was making him think that, either. It wasn't just the feel of her hand running through his hair, or her nails gently scraping the back of his neck, or their close proximity at all. It was so much more than just anything physical between them. She's so beautiful, he could just get lost in those big brown eyes of hers. And when she smiled, oh, how it automatically made him smile in return. He enjoyed seeing her happy. It was her, every part of her, and he knew it. He loved her, and he knew it.

"Don." Angell finally mumbles against his lips.

"Hmm?" He mumbles back against hers.

"Is that your phone?" She asks, or rather pants, as their lips part.

"Probably. I'm on call as of midnight." He manages to answer while keeping her pulled close to him and not breaking eye contact.

She didn't respond. She didn't need to. She just gave him a gentle smile while returning his gaze. Then Flack let his shoulders slump a bit, let out a sigh, and releases one hand to reach for the phone. "Flack. Mhmm. Yeah, I got it. Bye." Was his side of the conversation before hanging up.

"Guess the birthday party's over." She said, still close, still returning his gaze, not wanting him to leave, not wanting him to let go of her.

"Yeah." He said quietly, "I gotta go." He added, but didn't move or loosen his hold on her.

"You took the graveyard on-call shift for your mother, didn't you?" She asked, not moving, either.

He nodded sheepishly, "Only way I could be sure to have tomorrow off."

"What a good son you are." She said, cupping his face.

He laughed slightly, "Jess, these Sunday dinners with my folks..." He trailed off for a moment, gently stroking her hair, before continuing, "...have meant a lot to them, to both my parents. They sure think you're wonderful." He adds, leaning in for another kiss.

Flack opens his eyes in surprise, expecting contact with her lips, not with her fingers, which were now pressed against his mouth. She had a smirk on her face, "Ya gotta go." She reminded him.

**FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAAFA**

Sunday the 19th...  
"Honest, Detective. I don't know anything." Kellie O'Malley repeated, leaning over the table slightly. O'Malley was as Irish as her name, with long auburn hair, fair skin, and bright blue eyes.

"That's just gotta be..." Stella began, then pauses, not but quite sure of the right word to use.

"Uncomfortable." Angell finishes for her as the two of them stood at the interrogation room's viewing window. O'Malley's low cut top left little to anyone's imagination.

"So how does a hooker afford plastic surgery like that?" Stella asks.

Angell removes her gaze from the window to look at Stella before answering, "Lots of pimps will fork out for it." She shrugs, "Figuring they'll make the money back later, ya know."

Stella nodded in understanding. Disgust, but understanding. "Can't imagine going through surgery, through the pain and recovery..." she pauses, making a face, "Well, I'd never do it, that's for sure."

"I'm with you on that one." Angell agrees, returning her gaze to the viewing window, "God made or man made, either way, that's just gotta be uncomfortable to be that big."

"Either way, she thinks she's going to use those to get herself out of this mess she's in." Stella adds.

Angell notices Stella grinning, "What's so funny?" She asks.

Stella explains, "You remember that pimp we were trying to interview, oh geez, must've been last year ago I guess? Anyway, we were tying to question him, but he just kept telling us that with a little-"

"'Assistance', we could make a lot more money" Angell finishes, remembering the interview and 'offer'. Both women laugh.

"Honest, Detective Flack. I jut don't know anything." They heard Kellie O'Malley repeated, again.

Without a final word, Flack gave up, stood, and left the interrogation room. It was nearly 9:00am, he'd been on-call all night, a very busy night. A dead man found in an alley was suspected to have been with a prostitute, who might have seen the murder, or who might have even been the murderer, they weren't sure. But Kellie O'Malley wasn't talking. Well, she was, but flirting with Flack didn't count. Plus, Flack knew that Angell was due there at the precinct soon to pick him up. They were wrapping up his birthday weekend by having lunch with his parents in a few hours. "Cut her lose, for now. Without more evidence, we've got nothing to hold her on." He said to the uniformed officer outside the door, then saw Angell in the hallway talking with Stella.

"You get her to talk yet? Aside from trying to seduce you, I mean." Stella teased.

"Nope." Flack replied, trying to suppress a slight laugh. He figured they'd watch the interrogation.

"She's probably used to using those Irish 'assets' of hers to get what she wants." Stella said.

"Excuse me." Angell said, heading into the bullpen at hearing a familiar voice.

Flack and Stella talked about the case for a few minutes before she headed back to the lab. Flack got his stuff from his locker then went into the bullpen. Angell was standing at her desk talking to her dad. 'Black.' he thought to himself. She was wearing those black pumps he liked. They still had a running joke going about her shoes. He only got to see certain ones when they were going out, as they were otherwise not suitable for detective work like chasing down perps.

"Hey, Flack. How ya doin' these days." Mr. Angell greets Flack with an outstretched hand as he approaches.

"Doin' just fine, Mr. Angell." Flack replies, shaking his hand.

"Haven't seen you in a while." Mr. Angell says, to which Flack just nods in agreement and shrugs. "Yeah, I know, the life of a homicide detective. I've gotta come here to see my own daughter."

"You do not, Dad." Angell protests, in a mock tone of course.

Mr. Angell gives her a mock glare, then continues to address Flack, "I came here to try to take her to lunch, but she's - busy." He says.

Flack rocks back on his heels a bit, "Actually, sir, that would be my fault." He sees the questioning look on the older man's face, "Ya see, my parent's are dragin' me out to lunch for my birthday, but my brother can't make it, and my sister can't make it - " He trails off, trying to make it sound like Angell was doing him a favor.

"Three's not enough of a crowd, huh?" Mr. Angell asks, jokingly.

"Something like that. So I invited Angell to come along. Hence, her not being available. Sorry." Flack explains. It sounded strange to hear himself refer to his girlfriend by her last name to her father, but he wanted to continue the professionalism they had established. He felt it should be her place to tell her family about them when she was ready, and he wasn't going to interfere with that.

Mr. Angell shakes his head, "Not a problem. I was just hoping to get to see her while I was in the city."

"Maybe next time, Dad." Angell says, putting her jacket back on.

Mr. Angell hugs his daughter and starts to walk away, but turns back around, "Hey, I just thought of something... I talked to Jenna earlier about Jacob's birthday, which in 3 weeks, we're having it at the house, dinner, probably a BBQ. Flack should join us." He offers.

Angell smiles. It was the ideal opportunity she'd been waiting. "So, Flack, you think you can handle a bunch of us Angells all at once?"

"For barbecue? I think my stomach and I will endure." He teases, making everyone laugh.

**FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAAFA**

"What's got you smiling?" Flack eventually asks Angell on the drive to his parents house.

She blushes a bit, not quite sure why, "These birthdays are coming in handy." She says.

Flack nods, understanding what she meant, "Yes, they are." He agrees, lacing his fingers with hers. "Convenient, non-threatening, easy way to get people together and to get to know each other."

A few minutes later. "Now it's my turn... What's got you smiling?" Angell asks.

It was Flack's turn to blush a bit, but he also started to laugh a little. "After you went in search for you dad, Stella and I were talking. She was telling me about the pimp you two interviewed once and his generous 'offer'."

"Oh geez." Angell let out, rolling her eyes. "That was one creep I was glad to slap cuffs on." She pauses, "Oh well. I guess we can't all have God in a generous mood the day He assigns our DNA."

"What?" Flack asks, taking his eyes off the road briefly, "Are you serious? God was in a great mood the day he configured your DNA, Jess! You - are - gorgeous." He briefly looked over again, noticing that she was blushing again and smiling a bit. "I can't speak for all of us men, Jess, but I for one, prefer healthy and real over whatever that O'Malley lady had done to herself."

"It is kinda sad, when you think about it. Especially in her case, with her pimp and all." Angell said, rather quietly.

"Yeah, it is." Flack nods in agreement, as he changes lanes. "I supose there's a lot more to it than real vs. fake." He adds

"You an expert on this topic, Don?" Angell teases with a smirk.

"Nope." He answers simply. "I just meant that self-confidence has to play a role somehow... and that is one thing you will never lack in."

40 minutes later...  
Lunch with his parents was very nice, Mrs. Flack preparing her son's favorite foods. "Jessica, that pillow you gave Don was absolutely wonderful." She said.

"You saw it?" Angell asks, confused since they hadn't been to his place and just a tad embarrassed since she'd pulled the old jerseys from the garbage can in their kitchen.

"Don sent me a picture of each side. That was so clever." Mrs. Flack says.

Angell looked at Flack, but he was busy stuffing his mouth with corned beef, "I, uh-"

"Oh, don't worry about taking them, dear. You have no idea how hard it was to put them in the garbage like that. I'm just delighted they didn't end up in the city dump after all." Mrs. Flack assured her.

"My sister-in-law is one of those crafty types. I mailed the jerseys to her. She was actually the one that made the pillow out of them." Angell said, not wanting to take credit for something she didn't actually do.

"Well, either way, it was very thoughtful of you to go through all of that for Don." Mrs. Flack said, looking at the smile on her son's face.

About 5:00...  
"Hey, dad, Jess and I gotta get goin'." Flack said to his father.

"Already?" Mr. Flack replied as they sat on the back porch like they often did. "Your mother sure looks forward to your visits, Don. You have no idea how much these mean to her. Me, too." He admitted.

"Well, Dad, you know I'd like nothing more than to stay right here and have another beer with ya, but I've got a pile of laundry to do and the machine's are down at my apartment complex. So that means I getta spend my evening at the laundry mat." Flack explains.

"Wrapping up your birthday weekend at the laundry mat?" Angell asks, 20 minutes later, on their drive back to Manhattan.

"Mhmm. Not that I want to, but it's kinda necessary. I either do laundry or go buy new clothes for work tomorrow." He smirks.

"I've got an idea." Angell says, getting Flack's attention, "Why don't we swing by your place so you can pick up your laundry, and you can use the machines at my place while you help me."

"Help you with what?" Flack asks.

"You heard my dad. It's my brother Jacob's birthday in 3 weeks. I could use some male help with gift ideas." Angell answers, but sees a look of confusion of his face, "We'll take the laptop down to the laundry room with us and shop online." She explains.

An hour later Angell was sat atop the folding table in her apartment complex's laundry room, surfing for gift ideas for her brother, while Flack folded his t-shirts and gym shorts. "This is so hard. My brother already has every toy you can imagine a grown man wanting." She said. This wasn't going to be easy.

**FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAAFA**

The next morning, promptly at 6am, Flack knocks on Angell's door, apartment #504, but she doesn't answer. He decides to use the key she'd given him for emergencies, because getting lots of caffeine in her for an early shift, he was quite sure classified as an emergency.

"Two double-lattes, hot and ready." He calls out, knowing that alerting her that he was in the apartment was a good idea. She did pack a gun, after all. "Hey, what do you do? Sugar in this, or yellow?" He asks, not sure if she's heard him.

"I have a better idea for a wake-up call." Came her reply from behind him, her hands wrapping around his waist. He was surprised, since she was a self-proclaimed 'non-morning person'.

"Coffee's gonna get cold." He said against her lips, teasing of course, more interested in kissing her than drinking coffee.

"Shut up." She teases back, deciding that a make-out session would do more to wake her up than the caffeine would.

"Uh, is that my shirt?" He asks, as Angell un-cuffs him a few minutes later.

"Yeah." She answers, blushing a bit and fingering the hem, "You left a couple of 'em hanging on a chair last night." She paused, seeing the curious look on his face, "They, uh, they're real comfortable to sleep in. I hope you don't mind."

He stood up, biting his lower lip while taking in the view of her legs, which he'd never seen aside from workout shorts at the gym. "Don't mind at all." He said, before giving her one more kiss and leaving for his case.

**FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA**

In case you don't remember, Flack's first meeting with Angell's brother Jared was at the precinct in my story "A Real Date".

Angell's apartment is # 504, because in the "Prey" episode you can see #503 across the hall when Flack opens her door.

And who could resist writing anything about sports without making a Viagra joke. The '3 hours & 56 minutes' & 'husband-up' comments (from chapters 6 & 7) are actual quotes from your's truly.

To my surprise, there will be an 8th chapter here. It won't be a long one, but I want to wrap this story up with one more thing and make the timeline clear as my stories wrap up Season 5, then they'll pick up again post Pay Up (my version, of course).

**Thanks for reading, please take a moment to leave a review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Hi, everyone. Just wanna say 'thanks' for the reviews so far.

Re: Flack's pillow... I got the idea from a gift I made once, using a soccer sweat shirt,... The back had the name & number, the front the school mascot and even the shirt's kangaroo pocket I'd left on.

This chapter takes place in and between Episodes 21-25.

**Chapter 8 (almost 2 weeks after the end of chapter 7)**

"Flack,... in a kilt?" Lindsay asks, obviously amused and rubbing her very pregnant belly.

"Yep. I'm serious, he and his brother both. His mother showed me the pictures." Angell replied into the phone, as Flack enters her living room giving her that questioning 'who ya talking to?' look.

'Lindsay.' Angell mouthed, to him.

"Danny's gonna have fun teasing him, ya know." Lindsay replies, the smile on her face evident in her voice. "Hold on a sec, I've got a text to check." Angell waits while Lindsay checks the incoming text on her cell phone, "It's from Flack. He's making sure I know he was only 5 years old when he wore the kilt."

Angell laughs, looking up to see Flack with his cell in his hand and a grin on his face. "Yeah, he was a ring bearer in a wedding. I just hadn't gotten that far in the story yet." She said, not breaking eye contact with Flack who was still stood across the room from her.

"Hey, I gotta go. They're calling my flight to board. I'll be home and see you all soon." Lindsay says before hanging up.

"She on her way home?" Flack asks, walking across the room to Angell who nods, "Good. Maybe now Danny will stop jumping every time his phone rings. I swear, he's been paranoid she's gonna have that baby in her parent's barn, right next to a cow."

Angell stifles a laugh and says, "I was gonna include the part about you being only 5, ya know."

"Mhmm, sure ya were." He smirks, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I was. Eventually." She laughs, "It was a cute picture. You made an adorable ring bearer." Angell adds, leading him to the couch. "And you had great legs to pull it off, even back then." She teases.

"Very funny." Flack responds, without expression.

"Hey, if it's warm again tomorrow, you can wear a kilt to work." She continues teasing, watching him roll his eyes, "You'll stay cooler that way, and Caine can have some fresh legs to gawk at."

"He's a pain in the neck." Flack says, choosing words to try and stay civil in his terminology about his womanizing colleague. "No wonder none of the women at the precinct ever wear skirts."

"Well, you've had enough of a crappy day, dealing with Elgers and all, let's not add Caine into the mix." Angell says, not wanting to dwell on the topic any longer. "It'll be nice to see your folks again tomorrow." She adds, wanting to change the topic of conversation.

The next day...  
Angell had been right about two things. It was another warm early April day and that their Sunday dinner at Mr. & Mrs. Flack's had been very enjoyable. They were now on the drive back to Manhattan and the subject of Elgers has come up again.

"Proves he's not very smart. Anyone who want's to argue that what God created and said is good, and say it isn't. That's just like telling God He's wrong,... and telling God He's wrong, just ain't very smart." Flack says, taking an exit.

"Amen to that." Angell agrees, before answering her cell phone. "Angell... yes, I remember... on Saturday... we'll be there... yeah, Flack helped me." Was her side of the conversation before hanging up. "Reminder about Jacob's birthday dinner next weekend." She informs Flack.

"His gift arrive yet?" Flack asks.

"Not yet. Should be here any day now, though. You did good helping me pick it out, by the way." She says with a smile.

Two days later (Tuesday)...  
"What's that look for?" Angell asks, walking up to Flack at his desk.

"Was just talking to Danny." He says, hanging up the phone.

"How's Lindsay doing?" She asks, still not understanding the expression on his face.

"14 hours so far. I could hear her screaming in the background." He says, making a face, one that matched Angell's. Okay, now she was understanding. "I gotta tell ya, Jess,... at this very moment, I'm just grateful to have been born male." He explains with a slight shudder.

"Y chromosomes means not going through labor. Somehow that doesn't seem quite fair." She smirks on behalf of the female population.

"I don't care." He replies, "I'm still gonna send my father a 'thank you' card for the Y chromazones."

"Come on," She says, gesturing towards the doors, "Let's go get an early dinner before my flight. Then you can go see if baby Messer has arrived yet."

"Still wish you didn't have to go." Flack says, as they head out, disappointment evident in his tone.

"Yeah, me either. But I do. Hopefully this case won't take long and I can get back to see the baby." Angell says, the doors swinging closed behind them.

The next day (Wednesday)...  
'Shit.' Angell thought to herself. She knew Flack would eventually find out about George Kolovos and the Greek coins, but she wasn't fully prepared at the moment to give him an explanation. She'd have to think fast.

"Seriously, Jess. What were you and Stella thinking?" Flack asks, into the phone, frustration and concern obvious in his voice. "I need you to explain this to me, Jess, 'cause I'm not understanding."

"Okay,..." Angell both thought and said, "... Ollie Barnes."

"Excuse me?" Flack responded with confusion. "What does Ollie Barnes have to do with this?"

"Nothing, directly. You asked me to explain what I was thinking, and I am." Angell pauses, oh how she hoped this correlation would work, "You remember the decisions you made when Danny and his gun went missing, when a friend needed help and you bent the rules. You remember that non-protocol decision you made, when you let Danny bring Rikki in later instead of you arresting her right away." Angell pauses, letting the wheels in his mind turn a bit, "That's what I did, helped a friend, and made a non-protocol decision."

Their conversation ended several minutes later, Angell hoping she had gotten though to him. She knew she should've backed out as soon as Stella admitted that she was going behind Mac's back. But she did what she did, and right now she was more interested in keeping things going well between her and Flack.

The next day (Thursday)...  
"Hey, Jared." Flack greets, as Angell's brother approaches his desk. "Um, Jess isn't here. She's out of town, helping with a case."

"Good to see you, Flack." Jared says, shaking the offered hand. "Yeah, I know. I talked to her this morning. I'm actually here to see you."

"Everything okay?" Flack asks, not being able to think of a reason for the man's visit.

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine." Jared assures, "But is there some place we can talk?"

Flack correctly assumes he means to speak privately, not within earshot of his sister's colleagues, so he finds an empty room for them to use. "What's up?" Flack asks, both men taking a seat.

"This." Jared answers simply, gesturing to the long scar along his jaw line, running from his left ear to just under his chin.

"There must be quite a story there." Flack says, his curiosity peaked, but trying not to show it.

"There is,... and I need you to hear it,... without my sister around." Jared begins, taking a deep breath before continuing, "She was only 13 at the time. Joshua was 15. I'd taken them to the corner market with me. It was just a junk food run, ya know. Somewhere between the bag of Doritos and the 6-pack of Pepsi, they both start pestering me for Hot Tamales. I tell 'em they can have their Hot Tamales, if they'll go get the empty cans outta my trunk to turn in, because I was runnin' outta money. So, Jessica quickly agrees to go back to the car and get the cans." Jared pauses. Flack wasn't sure why, be he kept quiet, waiting for him to continue, which he did. "Joshua and I were standin' at the register, ya know, waitin' for her, wonderin' what was taking her so long. Eventually I walk closer to the window, and I see 'em. The cans. Scattered on the ground behind the car. So I go runnin' outside, callin' for her. Then I hear her. She's screamin' my name, an' I run 'round the end of the store , and there she is... four guys have her backed up into a corner near the garbage cans."

"That's some pretty scary shit." Flack says blankly, realizing that even as the oldest of the brothers that Jared would have still only been about 22.

"It was." Jared says honestly. "Not a situation I ever wanted to be in, or odds I ever wanted to encounter, but... she's my sister, ya know. And dad always instilled in us boys that we were to look out for her." Flack just nodded in understanding, having a younger sister himself. "Of course, she'd kick my ass if she heard me say that now," He said with an eye roll and a smirk before turning serious again, "But back then,... back then she was my little sister, a scared 13 year old girl, and it was my job to protect her. I wanted to call the cops, but it was too far to go back 'round the building to get inside the store, and God only knows what they would have done to her if I'd taken the time. So I didn't. Instead, I did the only thing I knew to do. I got between her and them."

"Brave move." Flack interjects, not wanting to think about what the four men would have done to Jess, "Something tells me it didn't go down well."

Jared shook his head at the memory, "Gang bangers, they were. Just kids themselves, really. But a couple of of 'em had knives." He said, sliding up his shirt sleeves to show more scars on both forearms. _'Defensive wounds'_, Flack told himself. "Fortunately, Joshua had come out and saw what was going on and called for help. It seemed like forever from where I was standing, long enough for them to make a game of it." Jared stopped speaking and took a deep breath, "There's not much else to say, other than what I really came here for." He paused again, looking down at the floor for a moment, then back up at Flack. "My sister, she uh, she still feels guilty over this. It's something our family has learned to ignore, to not mention. But seems like any time we've someone new around,-"

"They ask." Flack finishes.

Jared nods, "Yeah. Understandable, conversation starter, I guess. It doesn't bother me. I've looked at it in the mirror for too many years now to let it bother me any more. But it bothers Jessica, and sometimes it's awkward if someone says somethin' 'bout it in front of her, ya know. So I figured with you gonna be there on Saturday, it'd be best if I just came and told ya ahead of time."

"She still think it's her fault?" Flack asks, wondering if something that happened so long ago still bothers her.

Jared shook his head, "No. Not any more. But I can still see the pain in her eyes when she thinks about it."

"Did she end up with any scars?" Flack asked, having never seen any.

Jared shook his head, "Not the physical kind, the knives never got past me. But she did end up with a concussion. They kept hitting and kicking me, pushing me back into her, and the only place for her to go was further into the corner where her head kept slamming against the concrete of the building." He said, standing from his chair, feeling that he'd explained enough. "I figured with you and her being colleagues and all, that we'd be crossin' paths a bit."

"I'm glad you told me, Jared." Flack said, pushing in his chair, then the two men leave the room as quietly as they had entered.

Two days later (Saturday)...  
The evening air had turning chilly, but not yet cold. The nearby fire pit offering welcome heat, as well as a place to toast an occasional marshmellow for s'mores.

Even though it was Jacob's birthday, Mr. Angell's house was more centrally located for his children than Jacob & Jenna's, and therefor idea for hosting the birthday barbecue. He'd put a great deal of planning into his back yard, wanting it to be used for such gatherings. Everything from the brick-built barbecue and fire pit, to the gazebo and outdoor lighting, it was all hand picked with careful consideration. The garden beautiful and well established, having been planted and tended to for many years by his late wife Jaqueline. It pleased him to think she would be happy right now, seeing their children gathered there, two of their boys now married, one with a son of his own now. Of course Jason's absence tugged heavily at his heart, but he tried not to think about that, being careful not to let those particular emotions show. The delight at seeing his only daughter happy helped make that challenge a little easier. She had brought Don Flack with her, as arranged. He liked Don, knowing he was a stand-up cop just like his father had been. He'd never met Donald Flack, Sr., but knew of his reputation and many years of service in the NYPD.

Flack and Angell sat beside each other at the large round table under the gazebo, Flack finishing off another s'more and trying not to be distracted by the reflection from the small lights hanging overhead as they seemed to dance off Angell's brown waves every time she moved... which she was doing now, passing baby Dominique Matthieu back to his mother to be fed.

Madeleine excused herself from the table, preferring to find a private quiet place in the house to nurse her baby, after which she expected him to lay down to sleep for a bit, she would bring the birthday cake back out of the house with her.

Flack watched Madeleine leave the table with baby Dominique, and for a brief moment wondered if he and Angell would some day have a baby of their own. It sure was nice to dream like that, to think of a future like that, with her, he told himself. He knew, in order for dreams to come true you had to act on them, to do your part. Being partners and friends first had given them solid ground to build something on. They had been seeing each other for quite a while now, each date like adding another stone to the foundation of their relationship. Now it was time for the next step, and he knew what that was. He loved her, he had no doubt about that, but did she know it? He was sure she felt it, in the way he treated her, the way he talked to her, the way he looked at her. But that wasn't enough, and it was his responsibility to make sure she knew it, that she heard it. Yes, it was time for him to tell her, she would know for sure, never to doubt or question. That would secure the stones in the foundation of their relationship, so they could continue building on what was between them. Then maybe some day, he hoped, there could be a permanent merging of the French and the Irish.

**THE END**

Thanks for reading my story "French & Irish". I hope you enjoyed it and will take a minute to review... please!

I wanted another opportunity for interaction between Flack and Angell's family, as I knew that Mr. Angell had met Flack and was friendly with him (in both my version & CBS's version of Pay Up).

If you're reading my stories in order, then Pay Up (my version, not CBS's!) would be next (even though it was originally written as a one-shot). My Flangell series will continue post-Pay Up and into Season 6 episodes right up till the Flangell wedding on 10-10-10.


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